The Worst of Both Worlds
by JC Fabulous
Summary: The Federation is gone, and the Borg is everywhere! They are one of the last ships left and every moment has become a fight for survival. This is the story of the starship, Enterprise.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Star Trek. Star Trek was created by Gene Roddenberry; Star Trek and related marks are the trademarks of CBS Studios Inc. I am in no way advertising, nor selling the characters names, likenesses, trademarks or logos mentioned in these stories for profit. I am simply borrowing them to create fictional pieces of writing for personal entertainment purposes only.

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**The Worst of Both Worlds**

**Chapter One: Stardate 47295.3 (18 April, 2370)**

The bridge of the USS Enterprise shook violently as their shields were struck by another Borg tractor beam. The smell of cordite was almost a permanent fixture now, along with the flickering lights, and the static of the viewscreen. Half-working computer consoles, the smell of sweat, blood and fear lingered in the stale air. This had become their lives…

It has now been four years since the initial invasion of the Borg into Federation Space, in which case, the Federation no longer existed. Earth was the first to fall, and then Vulcan, Andoria, Tellar Prime, Denobula, Betazed and all the rest had soon followed. Within six months, the Federation was no more. Four months after the Federation was assimilated, the Klingon Empire was also absorbed by onto Collective. The Romulan Star Empire was assimilated five months after, then the Breen, the Gorn, the Cardassians… Hell had fallen upon the Alpha Quadrant and there was nowhere left to run. The Enterprise was the last of the Federation ships to survive, at least as far as they knew. They had lost contact with the USS Valiant nearly six months ago, the last of the Nebula Class vessels of Starfleet. Ever since then, all communications between any of the surviving ships, if there were anymore, had completely ceased... Not even a whisper... The Enterprise, and its surviving crew of 483 people, most of which are children, was all that was left of the once proud United Federation of Planets. Over half of the original crew have been killed, or worse assimilated, over the 4-year long battle of survival against the Borg Collective.

Commander William Thomas Riker was then granted a battlefield promotion to the rank of Captain and was given command of the Enterprise shortly after the ship's original captain, Captain Jean-Luc Picard, was taken prisoner and transformed by the Borg, the man once known as Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the USS Enterprise became known as Locutus of Borg. During their mission to assimilate Earth, the Borg decided that a human voice was necessary to facilitate their introduction into Federation society. Captain Picard was chosen to be that voice. With his capture, the Borg had assimilated all of the tactical and strategic knowledge of Starfleet. The knowledge held within Jean-Luc Picard's mind became the key to the Federation's demise. On Stardate 43997, Locutus lead the Borg into battle at Wolf 359. There, what was to be Starfleet's last line of defense turned into a massacre, 39 starships destroyed by one Borg cube. By the time, the Enterprise had reached the coordinates to take part in the battle alongside the rest of the assault fleet, it was too late. They learned that the cube was on its way to Sector 001, the home system of Starfleet and of the Federation itself… Earth…

They had managed to kidnap Locutus from the Borg cube in an attempt to not only save Picard, but to find a way into the Borg collective itself via their subspace transmissions. The goal had been to disrupt their communications and to shut down their weapons systems. However, their plan had failed. When they succeeded in hacking into the Borg subspace transmissions signal, an attempt was made to bypass the Borg defense command systems. The Enterprise was still two minutes behind the Borg, and every second counted. But the attempt by the Enterprise had alerted the Borg to their plans, and made the Borg disconnect the subspace link between the Collective and Locutus once the threat had been identified. The severing of the link, however, had caused a feedback loop through the implanted cerebral, subspace neural transceivers. The feedback looped triggered a massive brain hemorrhage that killed Locutus and their former Captain, Jean-Luc Picard, almost instantly. When they finally arrived at Earth, two minutes later, the invasion was already underway. The Borg cube had easily destroyed Earth's small defense force, and had just launched a Borg sphere onto the planet's surface and began assimilating the population below. That was the beginning of the end.

However, even with the fall of the Federation, and along with its allies and enemies, the Enterprise still managed to survive through it all. With the leadership of its Captain, and with the strength and determination of its crew, the Enterprise still survived… Barely… Now they have been targeted by the Borg once again; and once again, they must find a way to survive.

"Shields are continuing to modulate at random frequencies Captain, but I don't know how much more they can take. The Borg are going to adapt to the modulations sooner or later!" shouted a very long-haired, stubble-faced and ragged looking Wesley Crusher.

"I know Wes, but we can't let them adapt to our shields! Execute pattern Foxtrot-Delta and hope that we make it!"Shouted Riker

"Aye, sir!" Wesley acknowledged. Dipping the Enterprise under the Borg tractor beam at full impulse, the Enterprise began to fly straight into the local star. A yellow dwarf star, similar to Earth's sun.

"Geordi we're going to need the warp drive back online now! We don't have much time left!" Riker shouted over the intercom to main Engineering.

Down in Main Engineering, Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge; his uniform dirty and torn, his hair, long and his beard unkempt; tapped his comm-badge. "Yes, sir! We're working on it as fast as we can, we just need a few minutes to get the plasma injectors back online in order to achieve warp!" Geordi responded. Main Engineering itself looked as worn-down and haggard as the rest of the surviving crew themselves. Only half the lights were operational, and of those that did work, half of them flickered constantly. The floors and walls were dirty and smeared with soot and scorch marks from previous Borg attacks that they had somehow managed to come out of alive. Equipment and component failures became standard, and most of the engineering staff was dead. All that remained were Lt Commander Geordi La Forge, Senior Chief Petty Officer Miles O'Brien, Junior Lt Reginald Barclay, and Ensign Sonya Gomez; just four people, filling the rolls of a fully staffed engineering crew that once numbered nearly a dozen and a half.

"We might not have a few minutes, we need them now or we're dead!" Riker replied

"Aye, sir!" said Geordi and ran towards Warp Core. "Reg, Miles we need those plasma injectors online! Try redirecting the power flow through the interface couplings, that should to allow us to get them operating at sufficient levels to get the warp engines working again!" Geordi shouted up to the next level where the two men were trying desperately to get the warp drive working again.

"Yes, sir!" Shouted Miles O'Brien.

"Got it!" Responded Reginald Barclay, called Reg for short, and the two men went back to working on the plasma injectors as fast as they could.

"Sonya!" Geordi shouted to the bottom of the Warp Core. "Keep an eye on the intermix assembly, if it starts to overheat let me know immediately, and keep applying the energy-coolant flow at 12.5 micro-cochranes. We can't let it drop below 11.8 or they'll ignite!"

"Yes, sir!" Replied Sonya as Geordi went back to his console.

Back on the bridge, the situation was no less intense. "How long until we reach the chromosphere!?" Yelled Riker

"Three minutes!" said Wesley, "Sir, the Borg are pursuing us and are matching our speed!"

"Well, it doesn't look like they're in much of a hurry to assimilate us if they're only matching our speed, now does it?" Said Riker

"Why should they? They've already assimilated the Federation and everyone else." Stated Worf. His haired had grown down the middle of his back, his beard was down to his chest, and he wore a deep, long scar across face. A small memento, from one of his many battles with the Borg.

"Sir, we're being hailed by the Borg." Said Wesley

"Damned Borg… Why won't they just leave us alone? What can we possibly offer them that they haven't already taken from us?" Said Riker

"Our lives…" Said Worf

"True…" Riker said. They were still alive, and independent from the Collective. Such a thing is inconceivable for the Borg to tolerate. "Alright then… Put it through Wes." Riker ordered

"Yes, sir." Wesley replied, and patched the Borg hail through.

An image of the interior of the Borg cube, with levels upon levels of Borg drones, appeared on the static filled screen, followed by the voices of the tens-of-thousands of voices of Borg. _"We are the Borg. Existence, as you know it, is over. You will be assimilated into the Collective. We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own. Your culture will adapt to serve ours. From this time forward, you will service us. Resistance is futile."_

"That's it!?" Riker shouted angrily. "That's all you damned Borg have to say to us!? You'd think that after four years, you stupid Borg would've come up with something a little more entertaining and creative than the standard pick-up line!"

"_Entertainment is irrelevant. Creativity is irrelevant. You will be assimilated."_ The Borg responded

"Kiss my ass!" Riker shouted and terminated the link.

"I wonder what their response to that would have been." Worf smirked

"Kissing your ass is irrelevant." Said Wesley and a short burst of chuckles and snickering erupted on the bridge as the three glanced at each other, knowing that this round of laughter could very well be the last brief, good moment they'll ever have. "Sir, we are passing through the star's corona."

The Enterprise began to dive into the corona of the local yellow sun; waves of hydrogen atoms bathed its shields, radiating them with hues of yellows and orange. From the outside, any passive observer would see this and think it beautiful. From the inside however, it the situation was much more dire. The entire ships began to tremble and quake, the immense heat, gravitational and electro-magnetic forces worked to tear the ship apart, if not for the shields.

"We have passed through the corona and have now reached the chromosphere Captain." Said Wesley.

"Good! You know what to do Wes, skim along its surface at maximum impulse." Said Riker

"Aye, sir!" Wesley punched in the commands into his console.

Throughout Starfleet history, it had been extremely rare for a starship to travel at maximum impulse. At full impulse, the ship would be traveling at 25 percent of the speed of light. Fast enough for almost any situation for a ship travelling at sublight speeds. However, for a ship to travel at maximum impulse, or 75 percent of the speed of light, the effects of time dilation would be greatly felt. Therefore, it had always been a part of Starfleet regulations to keep the ship at full impulse or less during sublight travel, except for cases of emergency when the need for maximum impulse is absolutely required. Running for your lives, from the Borg, would fulfill the requirements of an emergency. Not that it mattered, since there was no Starfleet anymore, the regulations no longer applied. You did what you had to do, to survive. The immense heat and radiation washed over the shields as the Enterprise raced across its surface like a speed boat across the surface of a lake, splashing up giant sprays of thermonuclear waves in its wake.

"Shields are at 41 percent and dropping!" shouted Wesley

"What about the Borg?" said Riker

"Their shields appear to be holding, and they're gaining on us!" Yelled Worf

The Borg cube, its shields shimmering in golden yellow light as it chased after its prey, gradually shortened the distance between itself and the Enterprise until it was within its tractor beam range. Suddenly, the ship shook as the emerald green energy of the Borg tractor beam attempted to snag the Enterprise in its deadly grip.

"Shields are down to 37 percent, random frequency modulations are continuing to resist the Borg's attempt to adapt, but they won't hold out forever!" said Wesley

"Geordi! We need warp drive!" Riker shouted through the inter comm.

As Riker's desperate words came through to Engineering, Miles and Reg had made their final repairs to the plasma injectors. "Geordi, we're finished!" shouted O'Brien

"Got it Miles!" said Geordi and hurriedly punched in the commands to bring the warp engines back online, as the screen to his console came to life, a broad smile appeared. "Reg, Miles, I love you guys!" Tapping a few more buttons, his heart raced as the pulsing blue lights of the Warp Core began to thrum like it used. "Geordi to bridge, the warp engines are online!"

"Yes!" Worf shouted as the good news reached them.

"Good work Geordi! Wesley, reduce to full impulse and let the Borg get to within 100 kilometers, when they've reached that distance, engage warp." Riker commanded

"Aye, sir." Wesley acknowledged

As planned, the Borg had closed their distance upon the Enterprise, their tractor beam was still attempting to adapt to the ever changing shield frequency modulations of the last Federation Starship. The bright green beams of energy from the tractor beam of the Borg cube, pulsating against the flickering of the Enterprise's weakening shields, grew wider as the cube reached within 100 kilometers of the Galaxy Class Starship.

"Do it!" Riker shouted

Immediately, Wesley furiously punched in the commands into his console. The Warp nacelles grew bright and suddenly, to the naked eye, the Enterprise appeared to have stretched remarkably thin against the backdrop of space and instantly disappeared with an amazing flash of white light. As the Enterprise entered warp, the 'backwash' from the warp engines caused the surface of the star to erupt in a giant solar flare, completely engulfing the Borg cube. The massive amount of heat, energy and radiation devestated the Borg's shields making them collapse, and leaving the ship itself exposed to the nuclear hellfire of the yellow star... The cube was vaporized, leaving behind nothing of the Borg ship or the 130,000 drones that had once been its crew, at least, as far as they could tell.

Slumping back into his chair, Riker let out a long sigh of relief as the static filled view screen revealed the destruction of the Borg cube. "Good, now maybe we can…" Riker began to say but was suddenly interrupted.

"Sir, sensors are picking up Borg energy signatures." Said Wesley

"On screen." Said Riker, and the view screen showed an image of a small black dot against the background of the yellow sun. "Magnify." Riker ordered and then the image changed from the black dot, to a large, damaged, sphere.

"Why won't they just learn to die?" Worf growled, not truly expecting an answer.

"The sphere is in the process of regenerating, sir. I estimate they will be fully regenerated within the next four minutes." Said Wesley

"Damn it, they must have launched the sphere just before the solar flare destroyed the cube." Riker stated. "Riker to Battle Bridge."

"Shelby here, sir." Answered the voice of Commander Elizabeth Shelby.

The Battle Bridge was dimly lit, and had very little room, in comparison with the Main Bridge, but it didn't need a lot of room. Just enough to carry out its purpose, and that was to command the Star Drive section of the Enterprise into combat as the Saucer section separated itself and flew away to safety. As a Lt Commander, Shelby had first been assigned to Starfleet defense and was placed in charge of the Defensive planning program for a potential Borg invasion of the Federation, under the supervision of Admiral J.P. Hanson almost five years ago, after the Enterprise's first encounter with the Borg. When the Borg began their invasion one year later, Shelby arrived on the Enterprise with Admiral Hanson as a specialist in Borg technology, although that meant very little at the time. The Federation only had the one previous meeting with the Borg, so their knowledge about the Borg overall was very small. She was later granted the battlefield promotion to Commander, and the position of first officer on the Enterprise, just before the Battle of Wolf 359, and has remained so ever since.

"It looks like we are going to have to go to Plan 'B' after all." Said Riker.

"Understood, sir." She said. Her hair was pulled back in a long pony tail, and her uniform was tattered. Much like everyone else on board the Enterprise, she was exhausted and stressed almost daily. Unfortunately, that was now the norm.

"Worf, Wesley… It looks like we've run out of choices here. So, when we do this, we have to get it perfect the first chance we get, because we won't be getting a second one." Riker said somberly.

"Aye, sir." They both answered in unison. Both Worf and Wesley knew what was at stake. If they failed, they will all be assimilated into the Borg Collective, and become nothing more than drones.

Down in the Battle Bridge, a very similar conversation was taking place between the only two people there. Commander Shelby, and Lt. Commander Data. "We have to get this right Data, if we don't then we're dead." She said, as she took the Ops position, next to Data.

"More likely, the crew will be assimilated. However, I understand the point you are trying to make Commander." Said Data, while sitting at the helm on the Battle Bridge. Of all the surviving members of the Enterprise crew, Data was the only one who didn't show, or even possess, any signs of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD, as everyone else. Being an android sometimes had its advantages. Especially in the times that they were living in now.

Shelby couldn't help but smile at Data's comment, as gloomy as it may have been. Even after four years of fighting the Borg, he still had some small sense of innocence about him. "You know Data… If we don't make it through this… I just wanted you to know that, I've enjoyed your company, and… I've come to think of you as a friend." She said

Data looked up from his console over to her, and for a split second, Shelby could have sworn that he smiled. "Thank you. My mental pathways have become accustomed to your sensory input patterns as well Commander." He said

Back on the Main Bridge, though only minutes had passed, it seemed like hours. Waiting for the Borg to complete their regeneration in order to hunt them down was nerve racking. Then the moment that they had all been waiting for, and dreaded, had finally come… The Borg had completed their regeneration process and were now on the move.

"Captain, the Borg are in pursuit and increasing to warp 9.5. At that speed they'll catch up to us in about a minute." Said Wesley

"Alright people get ready, remember we only got one shot at this, so let's make it count." Riker said.

Within moments, the Borg were literally on top of the Enterprise. Their green tractors beam slammed into the Enterprise's shields in an attempt to slow them down and to grasp them in their cybernetic net with no promise of escape. However, the Enterprise would not go down without a fight. It almost seemed as if the Enterprise was almost as capable, if not just as capable, to adapt as the Borg themselves. Combined with their tractor beam, they also began firing emerald colored energy discharges which were specifically designed to drain the power from a ship's shields. It wasn't having the desired effect that the Borg were looking for.

"Just as predicted, Captain. They're attempting to tractor us in and they are firing energy pulses to weaken our shields. Random frequency modulations are rotating, but shield strength is down to 31 percent. We can hold out, but not for long." Stated Worf

"Maybe so, but they'll hold for long enough." Said Riker. "Riker to Shelby, prepare for Saucer separation on my command, and execute attack pattern Tango-Alpha on my mark."

"Yes, sir." Came her response over the intercom.

"Get ready Wesley." Said Riker

"Aye, sir." He said, and prepared himself. If things didn't go exactly as planned, the Borg would have them.

"Drop out of warp and set heading for 124 mark 79, at full impulse." Riker commanded

"Course setting 124 mark 79 at full impulse. Aye, sir" Wesley responded and punched in the commands into the helm

The Enterprise immediately dropped back into normal space, out of warp, and began to speed away at full impulse, in a vain attempt to escape their Borg pursuers. However, the escape attempt was only a ruse in order to lure the Borg in a position that would best ensure their own survival. The Borg had also dropped out of warp and was now chasing the Enterprise at sublight speed, and gaining on them.

"Just a few more seconds, wait until they to within 1,000 kilometers and then the plan." Said Riker

"Aye, sir." Said Wesley

"Riker to Engineering, the Borg are almost in position, get ready." He said

"Don't worry, we'll get them." Geordi's voice answered

"Okay Shelby, get ready." Riker stated

"Yes, sir. Don't worry about us. We'll teach those bastards a thing or two." Shelby responded

As the Enterprise made its way through space at full impulse, it did not take long for the Borg to finally catch up to them, and when they had reached within 1,000 kilometers, the plan was put into action. "Now!" Riker shouted

The Enterprise slowed to one-quarter impulse, turned towards the Borg sphere, and flew directly towards death itself. The Borg closed is and attempted to lock on with another tractor beam, however, as it did so, the Enterprise began to separate. The Saucer split from the Star Drive section turned towards the sphere's starboard flank while the Star Drive turned towards the port. Both sections of the Enterprise were now only 1,000 meters form the Borg sphere. The Borg then sent out another tractor beam in an attempt to capture the Star Drive as well, but now the Star Drive's warp nacelles began venting plasma, and the Saucer began to vent drive plasma from its impulse engines. The two sections of the Enterprise started to circle the Borg sphere from opposite directions, venting both their warp and drive plasma.

This maneuver forced the Borg to come to a complete halt as the two sections encircled the sphere on both sides. Also, the combination of both the warp plasma and drive plasma disrupted the lock on the Borg tractor beams. The only purpose it served was to draw in the two forms of plasma closer to the Borg sphere, compromising their own shields. The maneuver had been rehearsed in simulations, knowing that one day they'll have to implement it one day, and that day had come. The Saucer section and Star Drive passed within two-dozen meters of each other at one-quarter impulse, going around for a second pass.

"Alright, here it comes people. When we come around the second time, you know what to do!" Shouted Riker

Now, the two sections of the Enterprise were coming around for a second pass, and as they did both the Star Drive and the Saucer ceased the venting of plasma and sped away in completely opposite directions, targeting both the Borg sphere and the plasma trails they left behind. The Saucer fired its phasers at full power as well the Star Drive, along with a compliment of torpedoes. The phaser fire ignited the combination of plasmas, ensnaring the Borg sphere in a ring of fire which overwhelmed the Borg's shields and destroying the outer primary hull of the Borg ship, while at the same the added destructive fire power of the modified photon torpedoes slammed into what remained of the Borg and exploded in a series of antimatter detonations. Vaporizing what remained. The fireworks of light and explosions filled the view screens of both sections of the Enterprise, and a sense of relief, and righteousness fell upon everyone who witnessed the death of their pursuers.

"Finally… They're dead…" said Worf.

"Good… Riker to Shelby." He said

"Shelby here, sir" Came her response over the comm.

"Initiate sequence for reintegration of the Saucer section and the Star Drive." He told her

"Aye, sir." She answered

After several minutes, the Star Drive lined up behind the Saucer section of the ship, and slowly approached until finally the faint 'thud' of the two halves recombined to once again form a whole ship. "Perfect... How's the rest of the ship?" asked Riker

"We appear to have pulled through with little damage Captain." Worf responded. "Shields are down to 29 percent, minor hull damage to sections 24 through 29, and casualty reports are coming in… No fatalities, reports of only minor injuries, sir."

"We were lucky this time. The next time could end up very different." Said Riker "Riker to Engineering, how's it going down there?"

Sitting at his console and looking over all the information flowing across his screen, Geordi sat there for a second, taking in a deep breath and listened to the deep thrum of the warp before he finally answered, "Better… But not good either Captain. The warp engines are functioning, but I can't get you more than warp 6.5, maybe 6.6 at most. The Dilithium crystals are fractured at 19 percent, if they go beyond 25 percent I won't be able to get us flying faster than 4.5, and only that if we're lucky."

"Understood." Stated Riker, and rubbed his temples. They couldn't afford to lose any more speed that they already had, otherwise they would literally be run over by the Borg in their next encounter. "Riker to Battle Bridge, respond."

"How is everyone doing?" Riker asked

"We're doing as well as we possibly can, sir." She responded.

"Captain, if I may make a suggestion." Said Data.

"Go ahead Data." Said Riker

Data tapped the display button on his console, "Sensors indicate that we are 5.6 light years away from the Devolin System in the former Romulan Neutral Zone, and according to Starfleet records, there is a rather large asteroid field in that system."

"An asteroid field…" Riker said to himself, and then it dawned on him. "That's actually a good idea Data. We could use the field to cover ourselves and make repairs."

"Yes, sir. There may even be raw materials within the asteroid field itself that could prove useful." Said Data

"Sir." Wesley interrupted, "At current maximum warp of 6.5, we should reach the Devolin System within 4 days."

"Do it Wes." Said Riker

"Aye, sir." Wesley responded, entering the destination into the helm. The Enterprise responded to the new commands by turning on its axis and engaging at warp 6.5.

"Geordi, do you think you can keep the warp engines going for the next four days until we reach the Devolin System?" Riker asked

Looking over his shoulder at Miles, Reg and Sonya, who had all made their way to the main level of Engineering, he could tell by the looks in all of their eyes that they had no idea if the repairs they had made to the engines will hold that long or not. "We'll give it our best shot Captain… That's all I can promise." Geordi said solemnly…"

"…Understood…" Riker responded. He could only hope that the engines would hold out, because if they didn't, then they would be sitting ducks for the next Borg cube that came along. "Just do your best…"

"Yes, sir. We will…" Said Geordi, and disconnected the comm channel.

"We can do it." Said Sonya, her long, black, wavy hair hung low near her lower back.

"We've got no choice. Because if we can't, then there will be no way of telling when, or if we'll be able to get them back up again." Stated Miles O'Brien, like most of all of the other men still left alive on board the Enterprise, his hair and beard had grown long, with patches of grey in it.

"Well… If we can't… And the Borg do come for us and board the ship…" Reg began to say as he pulled a small, type-one hand-held phaser from the frayed pocket of his uniform. "I'm not going to let those cybernetic bastards turn me into one of them… I'd rather die first, and if I am going to die… Then I'd rather die as a human."

Miles simply put a steady hand on Reg's shoulder and squeezed gently. He understood what Reg was thinking about. Hell, they all understood, because they've all had the same thoughts go through their minds on more than one occasion. Every person on the Enterprise had a phaser on them now, even the children did. No one was innocent anymore. Everyone had seen their friends and loved ones die or be assimilated by the Borg in the last four years… Everyone… No one was spared the horror of the Borg, so everyone knew their jobs. If the Borg should ever again make it onto the ship, then it was everyone's duty shoot and kill as many of them as possible, because the Borg didn't care if you were male or female. Adult or child. As far as they cared, you were nothing more than parts to be gather and used at their disposal, nothing more than potential drones.

Back on the dimly lit Main Bridge, the star field flickered in and out on the view screen and the tension was slowly beginning to subside, and everyone was thinking the same thing. Four days… Just four days… If they could go at least that long without running into another Borg cube, then maybe they'll have a chance to rest and repair the ship. But it's going to be a very long four days.

Then the turbolift doors opened as Commander Shelby and Lt. Commander Data walked onto the bridge. "Shelby, Data…" Riker said tiredly

"Sir." Said Data and took the conn next to Wesley.

"Captain." Shelby stated simply as she took the first officer's chair next to Riker

"We've set course for the Devolin system, but it's going to take us four days to get there. So we're going to have to be vigilant until we arrive." Riker told Shelby

"Yes, sir. Hopefully we'll be able to make repairs while we're there and lay low for a while." She said

"My thoughts exactly…" Said Riker as he once again rubbed his temples.

"You should go and get some rest, sir. You've been up for almost 30 hours. You need to sleep. I can take it from here." Shelby told him

"Are you sure?" He asked. "You haven't exactly been getting any beauty sleep yourself, you know… No offense."

Shelby couldn't help but smile and chuckle at his last comment. "None taken, sir. I've only been up for about half the time that you've been awake. Besides, you should take a look at yourself in the mirror. You're not exactly an image of masculine fitness and health either."

He laughed at her answer and quietly admitted defeat. "Very well, you have the bridge Commander… Wake me in eight hours if we don't run into anything."

"Aye, sir." Shelby answered as Riker stood up and proceeded to his quarters.

The turbolift doors opened to a corridor of near darkness. But that didn't matter; his eyes had adjusted to the dark a long time ago. All of the overhead lighting were off and only the narrow strips of the floor lights were operational. One of the main reasons for this was to conserve energy; the other was because only about half of the overhead lights were working to begin with. The walk to his quarters was long, and silent. There was a time when these corridors would have always been busy. Even during the evening hours, members of the crew would have always been bustling about their duties, going from here to there. But now, only the silence was constant. Finally reaching his quarters, the doors slid open, and closed behind him. Removing his boots and uniform, he shuffled his way to the head and attempted to activate the sink. Only a couple of fluid ounces of water came through the tap, and he gladly accepted the bounty in his cupped hands. Taking a small sip, he savored the sensation of the cold liquid passing over his lips and down his esophagus. The rest of the water, he lightly splashed over his face, attempting to wash away the dry sweat. After drying his face with an old rag, he looked into the broken mirror in front of him. He looked worn down, tired, but most of all, he looked old. He wasn't even in his 40's yet, he was still only 35, but he looked as if he was in his 50's. Grey had streaked through his hair and bear with abandon, and the wrinkles in his face caused by anxiety and stress was plainly obvious. He had aged, considerably.

Sighing heavily, and turning away from his reflection, he slowly made it to his bed and slipped under the covers. If he had the means to do so, he would have jumped into the shower and washed himself clean. A real shower, with real running how water instead of a sonic shower. It effectively did the same thing, but didn't feel the same. However, he didn't have the means to do either one. They couldn't afford to use what little water reserves they had left for bathing, and it took precious energy to operate the sonic showers. So they had to go for neither. Sighing heavily again, wishing that he could, just once take that long overdue and most desired shower, he laid his head on his pillow and pulled the covers over himself. It took nothing more than mere seconds before Riker had fallen into a deep slumber. Unaware of what the future was going to hold for him and his crew… The last of humanity.

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**Author's Note:** I've been wanting to write a story like this one for a while. It's obviously inspired by the Star Trek: TNG episode "Parallels" from season seven, where you just get a brief glimpse at what life would be like if the Borg was successful in assimilating the Earth. I plan to make this story an eventual crossover with another Sci-Fi series, but that won't be for at least a couple more chapters, I plan to make it mainly based in this AU universe and have the crossover influences slightly more subtle.

Also… I've been thinking about possibly handing over the right to a few of my stories "In a Mirror, Daedalus," "The Tides of War," and "Of Heroes and X-Men" to other people who would like to continue them. As much as I liked writing them, I honestly don't see myself completing them. I simply have too much going on in my life to dedicate my time to finishing them up the way I would like to. So, if there is anyone out there who would be willing to take up the responsibility in picking up where I left off, simply email me and let me know. Tell me which story, or stories, you would like to take over, and why. Fill me in on how you would continue the plot line and character arches. The one who I feel is best suited to continue the story will be given the rights to do so.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two: Stardate 47305.5 (22 April 2370)**

Four days… They had made it. It had been a long four days and no Borg were detected, whether it was fate or just dumb luck, no one cared. All anyone cared about was the fact that they made it safely to their destination. The Devolin System; located in what was once the Federation-Romulan Neutral Zone, during a time in which both the United Federation of Planets and the Romulan Star Empire once existed. Being both political and ideological enemies, the Neutral Zone was established after the Earth-Romulan War during the 22nd century. Now however, it was just another system in another part of space. Asteroids and giant rocks littered the system like sand on a beach; hopefully this would be an ideal place to hide.

"Captain we are approaching the Devolin system." Said Data

"Any sign of the Borg?" asked Riker

"No, sir." Data responded

"Good, I'm not in the mood to deal with them today." Riker said while scratching his beard

"Sir, there is an amazingly high amount of ionizing radiation coming from the asteroid field. That, and along with the sheer amount of rock would make even the Borg sensors have a hard time locating us." Stated Wesley.

"Perfect, we want to make it as difficult as possible for those murdering bastards to find us." Said Shelby

"Take us is to the center of the field Wes, nice and easy. We don't want any of those asteroids to hit us, especially with the shape we're in." Riker ordered

"Aye, sir. Maneuvering the Enterprise into the field at 1,000 KPH and holding steady." Wesley stated.

"How long until we reach the center of the field?" Shelby asked

"At current speed, approximately 42 hours." Data replied simply

"Good, I want us surround by as much rock as possible. The more rock around us, the better we can hide. Like I said Wes, nice and easy, we're not in a hurry. If the Borg are around out there somewhere, we don't want to attract any more attention to ourselves than what we absolutely have to." Said Riker

"Yes, sir." Said Wesley

"Worf, engage silent running." Riker stated

"Aye, sir. Silent running engaged." Worf responded

Engaging in silent running is meant to decrease the Enterprise's energy output signature to bare minimum, and hopefully making it a great more difficult for the Borg to detect them. By doing so, the warp drive is powered down and the warp nacelles go dark. The impulse engines are reduced to the lowest functional output levels possible to maneuver the Enterprise. All lights are turned off, those that functioned anyway, and only the minimum amount of the deck lighting that is needed are left on. Even life support is left running at minimum levels for survival. Having the ship go to silent running wasn't exactly comfortable, but it was better than fighting and running from the Borg.

"Good, Data I want you to go to Engineering and help Geordi in the repair efforts." Said Riker

"Aye, sir." Data responded and proceeded to the turbolift.

"Wesley I want you to keep guiding us through the field, make it look natural as if we're a part of the field. We don't know who might be looking out there." Riker stated

"Aye, sir." Wesley responded

"Worf, I want you to keep an eye out. Continue with passive scans only, anything more powerful than that might attract unwanted company. But if you see anything out of the ordinary, and I mean anything, don't hesitate to inform me immediately." Said Riker

"Aye, sir." Worf answered and attended to his duties

"You're going to see her?" Shelby asked gently

"… Yeah… It's been a while… I should've gone sooner but…" Riker said, his emotions starting to build inside him.

Shelby gingerly placed her hand on top of his and looked at him. It startled him a bit, he wasn't expecting the gesture, but he was comforted by it, and gently placed his own hand on top of hers. It wasn't a sign of romantic feelings towards each other. It was simply an indication of deep understanding and of a close friendship.

"Don't worry, I've got the bridge, and if anything happens while you're with her, I'll contact you right away… Go to her…" She said softly

"Thank you…" Riker managed to choke out, and rose out of his chair.

* * *

The doors slid open to sickbay and he stepped inside, even after these long four years, the sickbay still had a particular smell to it. It was the smell of disinfectants and filtered air. You would think that the smell would have faded away and had been replaced with the same odor as the rest of the ship. But if anything, the smell had pretty much stayed the same, more or less. There was also a faint musk to it now, of course the longer you stayed in sickbay you more you got used to it. But Riker hadn't been down here in weeks, so when the doors slid open, he noticed it immediately. The smell of the sick and the lame… The dying… Just slightly overlapping the smell of the disinfectants. Sickbay had quickly become one of the major priorities on board the Enterprise since the Borg invasion. It had to be, if there was no place to treat the wounded, then there would be far less people alive on the Enterprise than there were now.

Riker stepped into the dimly lit sickbay and gained the attention of one of the nurses who was currently attending to a boy, with dark hair, who had suffered from a minor burn injury he acquired during the last Borg attack. "Excuse me nurse, but is the doctor still here?" he asked her

"Yes, sir. She's in her office, I can go get her if you want." The nurse replied, that is if you can even call her that. The young lady had long sandy blonde hair and had to be no older than 14 years of age. 15 at the oldest, but this is what the crew had come down to. In fact many of the 'staff' were nothing more than teenagers, assisting the adults in keeping the ship in working order. Taking over the jobs and duties that was once performed by seasoned Starfleet officers and personnel, even replacing their own parents after they were killed. But desperate times call for desperate measures, and these were far more than desperate times.

"That's alright nurse, you may resume your duties." He said. The girl nodded, and went back to treating the boy. Riker walked back to the Chief Medical Officer's office and knocked lightly.

The doctor spun around in her chair and smiled at her Captain. "Hello Will, it's been a while since you've last been down here. Are you hurt?" she asked

"Hello Lilly." He smiled back, "No, I'm not hurt. I came down to see how she was doing."

Doctor Alyssa Ogawa, or Lilly to those closest to her, used to be the head nurse on the medical staff when Doctor Beverly Crusher was the Chief Medical Officer of the Enterprise. However, almost eight months ago, Doctor Crusher was killed during a Borg attack along with 19 other people dead, and 23 injured. It was at that time that Nurse Ogawa was promoted to Doctor Ogawa, and she had proven herself to be every bit as skilled and the medical professional as Beverly was.

"The same… Which isn't saying much." She replied, "Come on, I'll take you to her."

As they walked to the back of the CMO's office, Doctor Ogawa slid back a curtain to reveal the burned and comatose figure of Counselor Deanna Troi. Laying on a cot and covered by a thin blanket, her breathing was slow and steady. The right side of her face was scarred by the fire that nearly took her life. The same fire that took the life of her friend, and the ship's doctor, Beverly Crusher. The fire had been caused when the Borg fired on the Enterprise to weaken the ship's shields. Deanna and Beverly were down on deck 17 when several of the plasma vents along with the power relays exploded, igniting the entire corridor. The lucky ones were the ones who died almost instantly. The unlucky ones, like Deanna and Beverly, remained alive and conscious. Beverly took over nine hours to finally succumb to her injuries and pass away. Deanna on the other hand, made it through the night, but never regained consciousness. She had originally remained in the sickbay, however as time went on, they couldn't afford the constant use of a bio-bed to an unconscious patient, even if it was Deanna… So they moved a cot into the back of the CMO's office and had set up privacy curtains for her. She was checked on every day, cleaned as best as they could, provided with nutrients and fluids and so on. But it was still extremely hard not knowing if she'll ever actually come through.

"I'll leave you two alone." Said Ogawa and closed the curtain behind as she left.

Riker slowly knelt down next to the cot that held his beloved. Gently brushing her hair with his fingers, tears welled up in his eyes. "Imzadi…" He spoke softly.

Gingerly he caressed her face and tenderly kissed her lips, knowing that she would never feel his touch. "Come back to me Deanna, it's been too long." He choked on his words as his tears slowly trickled down his cheeks. She looked thin and fragile. The burns covered nearly half of her body and it was a miracle that she had survived her injuries. But what made it worse was the waiting, the not knowing… Not knowing if she will wake up one day or not at all… Waiting for eight months, eight years, or 80 years to see which will finally happen; having Deanna finally waking up from her coma, or dying in her sleep. Every time he looked at her, his heart was broken all over again.

"How can I keep on going knowing that you're still like this?" He said, and wept openly.

* * *

Doctor Ogawa had respectfully stepped out of her office after closing the curtain behind her. She knew how hard it was for him to see Deanna in that condition. Seeing her nurse finishing up with her patient, she went over to speak with her. "Hello Marissa."

"Hello Doctor." Marissa replied

"How are things going here?" She asked

"We're almost done here." She said as she finished wrapping the gauze over the boy's injury. "Okay, that's it. Now I want you to come back in a couple of days so we can check on it for signs of infection. Alright?"

"I will. Thanks." Replied the boy, and walked out of sickbay while gently caressing his arm. Taking only the briefest moment before exiting the sickbay to glance back at the nurse who just treated him.

"Was that Patterson?" Ogawa asked

"Yeah, he's been helping Mrs. O'Brien in the hydroponics bay." Marissa answered

"Wow, he's grown. He's as tall as you are." Ogawa said

"Yeah I know, he likes to remind me about it all the time. I think he has a crush on me too." she laughed

"Oh?" Ogawa smiled

"Yeah, he's always trying to find an excuse to be around me. If I didn't know better I'd say his burns were faked just so that he would have a reason to come to sickbay." She said

"Really?" she said, arching an eyebrow.

"What?" Marissa asked uncomfortably

"Well? How do you feel about him? He is kind of cute for his age." She said

"W-what!?" Marissa exclaimed. "We're not like that; he's like a little brother to me. Besides, he's only 12 and I'm almost 15!"

The expression on Ogawa's face softened, "It's not like there are a lot of choices left, you know. He might be good for you Marissa."

"I know…" Marissa replied. "It's just…" she sighed.

"You don't feel the same way about him like he does about you." She stated more than questioned.

"Yeah… I mean, I don't want to hurt his feelings or anything but… I don't see him like that." She said. "Does that make me a bad person? With everything that's happened to us I mean?"

"No, it just makes you human." Ogawa said and lightly brushed her arm. "What few of us that are left anyway."

"Thanks." She smiled

"Anyway, I wanted to ask you if you've completed the inventory yet." Ogawa asked

"Oh, yeah." She answered and walked over to the counter near the far wall of the sickbay and picked up a data pad. "It's not good."

Ogawa sighed, "How bad?"

"Well, for starters, I just used the last of the gauze we had to treat Patterson's burns, and we're down to only half a vile of anti-burn ointment." Marissa said as she gave Ogawa the data pad. "The rest is right here."

Ogawa knew they were getting dangerously low on supplies. Four years of treating patients, with the replicators down and no chance to resupply, it was only a matter of time before they began to completely run out. "Damn… This is not good. Sooner or later we're going to have to resort to treating patients like how doctors did in the pioneering days during the 17th and 18th centuries. Using splints to set broken bones and cauterizing people's wounds with red hot pieces of iron or other metals. "

"And what if we can't even do that?" she asked nervously

"Then we're going to have to start cutting people's limbs off like they did in the dark ages and hope that they make it through the night." Ogawa answered seriously

"You're kidding right?" She asked

"No, unfortunately I'm not... This is very serious…" Said Ogawa

"I hope it doesn't come to that." Marissa said grimly

"Sadly, we may have no choice." Ogawa replied

* * *

In the hydroponics bay Keiko O'Brien, with the help of four other people; mainly children under who had lost their parents over the years, the youngest being only five, were harvesting the latest crop of potatoes and carrots. It was extremely difficult to grow vegetables on a starship in order to feed hundreds of people, even more so when your ship was the only one left in the galaxy and the only resources you had were already slim to begin with. However, the children actually seemed to enjoy it. They liked putting their hands in the dirt and making things grow, and the loved it more when they got to eat the food they helped grow. It gave them a sense of pride, and accomplishment. Knowing that they were helping the people on the Enterprise survive. She and Miles had thought about having children, but every time they discussed it, they always came to the conclusion that it would be too cruel to bring a child into this world knowing that one day, that child would never grow up and have a family of their own. If the circumstances were different, they probably would have had at least one child already, maybe even two. But as fate would have it, the Borg destroyed everything, and they couldn't bear the thought of having a family in times like this. She felt sorry for the children still on board the ship, most of them having lost their parents, and more still haven't even reached puberty yet… And probably never will…

Thinking about these things made the memories of her wedding suddenly come into the forefront of her mind. It was one of the few good days after the Borg's invasion of the Federation, and she cherished it with all her heart. It was a little over three and a half years ago on stardate 44390.1; it was on a Tuesday in May. They had taken refuge in a nebula along with about a dozen other Federation ships, trying to hide and regroup. The war against the Borg was all but lost at this point and everyone knew it. Over 90 percent of the Federation's forces were gone at this point. They were either destroyed or assimilated, and the few that remained were scatted across the galaxy, or had gathered in small groups for mutual protection.

All of their friends were gathered in Ten-Forward and were genuinely happy for them. It was a rare, shining moment of happiness, in a universe filled with darkness and pain. She can still remember her wedding as if it all happened yesterday. She wore a long, pink and shimmery pearl colored kimono styled wedding dress with a traditional Japanese veiled hat. The beautiful melodies of the Koto and flute played in the background. Miles wore his gold, dress uniform. Everyone was dressed in their finest attire. The lavender and blue-green hues of the nebula outside the windows of Ten-Forward made for an exquisite background. No on board knew if they would ever see such a beautiful day like this one ever again, regardless of the horrors befalling the universe outside. The each took a sip from an opaque, crystal wine glass; looked longingly into each other's eyes and slowly turned to face their Captain.

"Since the days of the first wooden sailing ships, all Captains have enjoyed the happy privilege of joining together two people in the bonds of matrimony" Captain Riker smiled deeply. "And so, it is my honor to unite Keiko Ishikawa and Miles Edward O'Brien together in marriage. We have come together today in the presence of friends and loved ones, to witness the joining together of this man and this woman in Matrimony. The union of husband and wife in heart, body, and soul is intended for their mutual happiness; for the help and comfort given one another both in prosperity and adversity. Therefore marriage is not to be entered into unadvisedly or lightly, but reverently, deliberately, and in accordance with the purposes for which is true to their hearts. Now, you may join hands."

She can still remember how much her hands were trembling when she placed hers into Miles's, it may have been her imagination, but she could have sworn that his hands were shaking just as much as hers were, and at that moment, Riker continued with the ceremony.

"Miles O'Brien, will you have this woman to be your wife; to live together in the covenant of marriage? Will you love her, comfort her, honor and keep her, in sickness and in health; and, forsaking all others, be faithful to her as long as you both shall live?" Riker asked

"I will." Miles answered, and smiled at Keiko

"Keiko Ishikawa, will you have this man to be your husband; to live together in the covenant of marriage? Will you love him, comfort him, honor and keep him, in sickness and in health; and, forsaking all others, be faithful to him as long as you both shall live?" he asked

"I will." She answered and smiled Miles

Riker suddenly looked up at the gathering of people around Ten-Forward and spoke loudly for everyone to hear. "Will all of you witnessing these promises here today, do all in your power to uphold these two people in their vows of marriage!?"

"We will!" Everyone shouted

"Good!" Riker shouted, and the room erupted with laughter, "Then by the powers invested in me by the United Federation of Planets, Starfleet, and as Commanding Officer of the USS Enterprise. I, Captain William Thomas Riker, pronounce Miles Edward O'Brien, and Keiko O'Brien as Husband and Wife."

The room practically exploded with cheers and joy, for a small period of time, everything seemed normal. As if nothing had changed and the world remained the same as it was before. They talked, laughed, ate, and danced for hours… It was a beautiful day.

She was shaken out of daydream when she felt a tap on her shoulder, "Oh, Patterson. I didn't see come in. How's your arm?"

"It's okay." He said while rubbing his arm

"That's good. Do you think you can help the other kids gather the vegetables?" Keiko asked

"Sure thing Mrs. O'Brien." Patterson said

"Thanks." Keiko smiled as Patterson went over to the wall, picked up a large sack and started to help the other four children with the harvesting. "So Patterson…" she said

"Yes Mrs. O'Brien." Patterson answered

"Was Marissa on duty today?" she asked mischievously

The other four children giggled and snickered at the comment as Patterson struggled to answer, "W-what do y-you mean?"

She waved him over to her, in order to save him some embarrassment, although it didn't do much except to increase the other children's amusement and made them only giggle even more. "You know what I mean, was Marissa on duty?"

"Well…" Patterson gulped. "Y-yes... B-but she is the nurse you know. She has to be on duty."

"Yes, that is true." Keiko stated, and continued. "However, your burns weren't that bad. You could've treated them yourself with the emergency medical kit down here in the hydroponics bay. In fact, I seemed to remember that you did, but then for some reason decided to go to sickbay because you thought it wasn't healing fast enough."

"W-well, it w-wasn't." he said nervously

"It was healing just fine, and there's no reason to be embarrassed Patterson. Marissa is a very pretty girl; it's only natural for a young boy like you to be attracted to a pretty girl." Keiko teased

"B-but I'm not… I mean, I'm not… Uh…" Patterson started to say, but stopped in mid-sentence as he couldn't think anything good to say in return.

"Go ask her out on a date." Keiko whispered

Patterson nearly fainted as he began to panic over the thought of the possibility of going out on a date with the girl that he's had a crush on for years. "W-wh-what!?" he exclaimed as the other children behind him exploded in laughter.

"Ask her out, it obvious to everyone that you like her Patterson. Every time she comes by down here to check on the other kids, your eyes light up and can't take them of off her." Said Keiko

"Yeah Patterson, you can't take your eyes off her!" shouted Natalie. She was the youngest person on board the Enterprise, born only one year before the Borg invasion. She had never known anything beyond this life of running, hiding and survival, and yet, at the same time she also seemed to be completely innocent of what life was really like. Everyone on board the ship, who knew her, adored her.

"Natalie, it's rude to interrupt other people's conversations." Keiko stated, while suppressing her own need to snicker at her statement.

"I'm sorry." Natalie giggled and ran off with the other three children to put the vegetables they've harvested away in large collection containers.

"There really is nothing to be embarrassed about you know. Ask her out, what's the worst thing that can happen?" she asked

Patterson was now beat red, and sweating. He had no idea that his crush on her was so noticeable. He liked her very much, probably a lot more than he should have, but he couldn't help the way he felt about her. He thought about her almost constantly, and if everyone else knew about how he felt about her, did Marissa know? That idea nearly sent him into a panic. What if she did know? What if she always knew and he had been acting like an idiot around her the entire time? He couldn't possibly ask her out, could he? He was younger than she was, there's no way that Marissa would actually go out with someone younger than her.

"Earth to Patterson, are you there?" asked Keiko

"Huh?" Patterson said

Keiko couldn't help but smile at the boy's awkwardness, "I said you should ask her out."

"Oh…" he gulped, "I… Uh… I-I can't."

"And why not?" she asked

"She's older than I am; she's smarter than me, and… and… and…" Patterson began to stutter

"And what if she says 'no'?" Keiko filled in, knowing what the boy was thinking

Patterson became very quiet and slowly nodded his head, "…Yeah…"

"That's the risk everyone takes, but ask yourself this question instead. What if she says 'yes'? Do you really want to pass up an opportunity like this? There's not a lot of us left…" Said Keiko

"I know… But what if she does say no?" He asked nervously

"At least you'll know, and isn't that better than not knowing at all?" said Keiko

"I guess…" he responded.

* * *

Jay Gordon, a tall 13 year old boy with curly blonde hair, anxiously stepped into the Main Engineering area, unsure of what he was supposed to do exactly. He had asked to help out in engineering, but that was weeks ago. He had always been interested in starship mechanics, especially warp engine designs. It was in his blood. His father was an engineer on Lt. Commander La Forge's engineering staff, before he was killed. His father died almost one year after the Federation fell to the Borg, and he could still remember his father talking about the future.

"No matter what happens, we will endure and live on son. The human race will survive. We've done it before and we'll do it again, it's in our blood to survive." His father had told him one night as he was lying in bed.

"What do you mean dad?" Jay had asked him. He wasn't very good in history, but he was pretty sure that the Borg had never invaded Earth before.

"You've never heard of the 'Bottleneck' theories of our ancient ancestors?" His father asked

"No, what's that?" Jay asked

"Well son, scientific studies have shown that somewhere around 60,000 and 70,000 years ago, there was a gigantic super volcanic eruption that reduced the entire human population of Earth to about 10,000 individual people. Even later on as early modern humans left Africa to colonize Europe and Asia, somewhere around 20,000 to 40,000 years ago, they squeaked through another 'genetic bottleneck' that reduced the number of individuals who passed their genes on into the present to somewhere as little as 1,200 individual people. That's only around 600 couples that were able to reproduce and have babies. The entire human race was descended from these 1,200 people. Thousands of years later there were billions of us, and we went out to the stars and populated other worlds, passing on our genes to the next generation of human beings." His father told him

"Yeah, but that's different." Jay had told him

"Oh, and how's that?" His father asked

"Our ancestors never encountered the Borg." Jay said flatly

His father smiled at his comment. "That's true, our ancestors never did meet the Borg, but the point I'm trying to make here son is that the human race has faced near extinction before. Just like we are now, and just like before we will find a way to pull through this and survive. Not only survive in fact, but thrive. It's who we are, no matter how low we fall, we will always find a way to pick ourselves back up and hold our heads high."

His father always seemed so certain about that, and he wanted to believe. But he just couldn't… His mother was killed after the Federation had completely fallen to the Borg and his dad was killed a year later. He wanted to believe his father, to have the same optimism about the future, but he just didn't… He didn't mean that he wanted to die, but he just couldn't see living a full life with the Borg always chasing after them. The only thing he felt he could really do was to try to walk in his father's footsteps and help the people on board the ship, for as long as he possibly could, with the little amount of time they had. The Enterprise was his only home. He wanted to believe his father that the human race would endure and live on… But no matter how much he tried to believe his father's words, he just couldn't do it…

He shook the memories out of his head and focused back on the here and now. Making his way deeper into Main Engineering, he didn't see anyone, anywhere. Looking all around him and seeing no one unnerved him somewhat. Even though the population of the Enterprise had dropped by over half since the Borg invasion began, the silence and lack people always made him a little afraid. He walked onto the main landing in front of the warp core and saw no one. He was about to call out to someone when he suddenly stopped dead in his tracks and held his breath. The glorious sight that beheld his young eyes was an image that would be burned into memories for eternity.

Down on all fours was the figure of a woman, whose head and shoulders was buried behind a wall panel on the floor. The angle of her body being in this particular position resulted in her back to curve downward in such a way that the lower half of her body, and the most attractive half, to arch upward instead. And there, the most private and beautiful parts of woman's body was on full display for the young, teenage boy. The two heavenly, voluptuous, rounded cheeks of her backside, with her long, erotic legs spread just slight apart was enough to make him hold his breath and tremble from the very sight of it. This most divine woman, whoever she was, had the body of a goddess that most men, and even women, dreamed about having, and for many different reasons. It was perfectly enveloped in a tight, black, form fitting uniform. The pulsating lights from the main warp core was reflecting wave upon wave of brilliant blue light off of the woman's flawless posterior, and giving it an almost divine magnificence.

"It is truly, a most beautiful sight to behold, isn't it?" Said a voice from behind, causing him to literally jump in the air and scream like a little girl.

"AGHHHHHH!" he screamed

"Whoa! Calm down now, I didn't mean to scare you." Said the tall unshaven man, "What's you name kid?"

"J-J-Jay G-Gordon." He squeaked out. His heart was pounding and sweat glistened from his forehead from the shock and fear, and other primal feelings.

"What in the world is going on here!?" Shouted the heavenly Angel making her way towards them, who only moments before had been displaying to Jay the most beautiful parts of her.

"Sorry about that Sonya, but it appears that I scared this young man." Said the bearded man

"Reg what did you do?" Sonya, the woman of Jay's dreams, asked

"Well, I was making my way into Engineering when I saw this young man standing around. He looked lost, so I went over and tapped him on the shoulder. I guess he wasn't expecting anyone to be here and I scared him." Reg stated confidently, "Right?"

"R-r-right." Jay stuttered, clutching his hand to his chest

"Look at him, he's breathing hard, his face is red and sweating, his eyes are dilated; you must have scared him half to death." Said Sonya and placed a hand on Jay's shoulder, and he tensed up instantly when she did so. "Don't worry, you're not in trouble, but what are you doing down here?"

"I think he's the one that Mrs. O'Brien was telling us about a few weeks ago." Said Reg

"Oh, so you're the one that wants to be an engineer?" she asked, receiving a nervous nod in response. She couldn't help but smile at his awkwardness. "So what was your name again? I didn't catch it."

"J-Jay Gordon." Jay said "I-I thought that I was supposed to meet Mr. O'Brien and Commander La Forge down here, but I didn't see anyone." He explained

"Jay Gordon, it's nice to meet you. Commander La Forge and Mr. O'Brien are with Commander conducting repairs to other areas of the ship at the moment. I'm Sonya Gomez." She said and extended her hand

"It's nice to meet you too." Jay responded and shook her hand enthusiastically

"It's good to meet you too Jay, my name is Reginald Barkley. But my friends call me Reg." said Barkley

"Nice to meet you Mr. Barkley." Said Jay and shook his hand

"Call me Reg… I knew your dad." He said

"You did?" said Jay

"Yes I did. He even saved my life on a few occasions when the Borg attacked us a few years ago. He was a good engineer, and a good man." Reg told him

"Yeah… He was a good dad." Jay said solemnly

"Come on, I'll show you around and show the basics. We'll start with routine maintenance operations on the warp plasma injectors, unless of course you think it might be too hard and would rather go with Sonya and have her show you what she was doing up close and personal." Said Reg as an evil grin passed across his face

"Reg stop teasing him." Sonya said and smacked Reg across his arm. "You'll be okay Jay. Reg knows what he's doing, you'll learn a lot from him."

"O-oh, okay." Jay gulped

"Good, you go with Reg and I'll go back to work repairing the power conduits." She said and walked away.

"No problem, and if you need a hand, just give a shout and I'll send Jay to help you, I'm sure he'll be more than excited to do so." He smiled as Jay's eyes grew wide.

* * *

**Stardate 47310.3 (42 hours later…)**

The Enterprise was almost to the center of the asteroid field. It swam through the field of rocks and empty space with grace and elegance as a ray would swim though an ocean of coral and fish. The night watch, commanded by Lt. Commander Data, and staffed by a few of the older teenagers on board the ship, were relieved of their duties as Worf, Shelby, Wesley, and Riker came on the bridge. Data was taking his position at the Conn as the night watch crew began to enter the turbolift, exhausted and weary from the night before. Wesley had just relieved the night watch helmsman of his position and began a passive sensor sweep of the local area. It was ironic really, the 'helmsman', if you wanted to call him that was no more than 15 years of age. No older in fact when Wesley himself came aboard the Enterprise almost seven years ago with his mother. Even back then, he knew just as much about the intricate workings of the Galaxy Class starship as any of the Starfleet officers on board. And now, it seems that he was the old man. Training the younger 'kids', being mostly the teens between the ages of 13 through 16 years of age, about the workings of the Enterprise, whenever they actually had the chance to do so. Fortunately, the night watch always had Data in command, and since he never needed to sleep, he always found the opportunity to train the younger members of the crew far more often than the others. Suddenly, during the first sweep of the passive sensor scan, his console started to beep.

"Sir, sensors appear to be picking up a faint subspace resonance signature." He said

"What? From where?" he asked

"It looks like it's coming from grid 0158, sir." Wesley answered

Shelby immediately jumped from her seat and rushed over to the science station and began punching in commands. "He's right, sir. Sensors are definitely picking a subspace resonance signature. It coming from a very large asteroid designated as Gamma 601, from approximately 100 kilometers to out starboard bow."

Riker got out of his seat and joined Shelby over at the science station, "Anything else? What kind of subspace signature?"

"From the frequency variances, it looks like the pattern of a…" She gasped

"What it is Shelby?" he asked her

"Sir, it looks like the pattern of a Federation warp core." She answered, suddenly gaining the attention from everyone else on the bridge.

"Wesley, take us within ten kilometers of asteroid Gamma 601." Said Riker as he turned.

"Aye, sir." Said Wesley

As the Enterprise moved closer to the asteroid, and the readings from the sensors became clearer, his Riker's eyes got wide. "That's impossible." He said to himself, out loud.

"Sir?" Shelby questioned

"I recognize some of the variance patterns." Said Riker

"But how?" she asked him

"I think…" Riker stated, "I think I know what ship that is."

"You do?" she questioned once again

"Yes… I think I do, but that's why it can't be possible. If that resonance signature is what I think it is, it means that we're looking at the warp core signature of a ship that was supposed to be destroyed a little over 12 years ago."

"What ship?" said Shelby

"The Pegasus." Said Riker

"The Pegasus…" Said Shelby, and thought a moment. "Wait a minute, wasn't the Pegasus an old prototype?"

"Yes, it was. It was an Oberth Class science vessel that was heavily modified as a testing bed for new and advanced Federation starship technologies. The Pegasus was outfitted with an experimental engine and new weapon systems, some of which were used in the designs for Galaxy Class starships."

"But if it was destroyed 12 years ago, then how is it here?" she asked

"I'm not sure…" he responded, "Data, put that asteroid on the main view screen."

"Aye, sir." Data responded and the view screen was suddenly illuminated with the static filled image of a very large, rocky, and brown colored asteroid. "Captain, I have confirmed the sensor readings, the warp core resonance signature is originating from beneath the asteroid's surface."

"Beneath the surface? But how is that possible?" stated Worf

"The asteroid contains several deep chasms large enough for a starship to enter. It is possible that the Pegasus drifted into the asteroid's gravitational field and was pulled into one of its fissures." Data responded

"If it the Pegasus." Worf said

"Captain, why do you believe that the resonance signature is from the Pegasus? The ship was destroyed 12 years ago."

"Because… I served on the Pegasus." Riker stated

"You did? But, what happened?" she asked him

"I'll have to explain later, right now we've got another problem on our hands." He said

"Sir?" she said

"If we can pick up the resonance signature from beneath the asteroid's surface, then that means the Borg can too. We have to find a way to mask the resonance signature of the ship and fast before it's too late. If a Borg ships happens to enter the system, their sensors will pick up the signature and us with it." Said Riker

"What about Vertiron particles? Couldn't we saturate the asteroid with Vertiron particles to mask the resonance signature?" asked Worf

"In order for the deception to succeed it have to appear to be a natural phenomenon; Vertiron particles are artificial in nature." Data explained

"Wait, we could blanket the asteroid with high levels of ionizing radiation. There's so much of it in the system already, the Borg shouldn't know the difference." Wesley suggested

"Data?" said Riker

"Theoretically, it should work." Data responded

"Then do it." Riker order

"Aye, sir. Initiating ionization field pulse." Said Data, and tapped the commands into his console.

"Sir, if that really is the Pegasus down there in that asteroid, then how will we get to it? We have only one working transporter, and I wouldn't to attempt to beam through that much solid rock." Said Worf

"Neither would I, sir." Said Shelby. "What if we tried to send a shuttle down through one of those fissures?"

"I wouldn't recommend it, there could be gravimetric or magnetic fluctuations inside the asteroid that could over power the engines of a shuttle craft, and besides, we only have two shuttles left and neither one of them are in top working order." Said Wesley

"Ionization field pulse is complete." Announced Data. "Captain, I have just completed detailed scan of the asteroid, and from the strength and polarity of the resonance signature it would appear that most of the warp core is still intact."

"Thanks Data." Said Riker

"Well… How are we going to get to it?" asked Shelby

Riker slowly walked back down to his Captain's chair and sat, thinking long and hard on the matter, he finally came to a decision. "We have no choice… We're going in."

"Into the asteroid?" said Shelby

"That's right; you see that main fissure on the asteroid." Riker stated, pointing out the fissure on the static filled view screen. "The chasm is large enough for the Enterprise to maneuver in."

"But, sir; it could very dangerous. " Shelby said

"I know, but we don't exactly have any options. If it really is the Pegasus down there, then we need to go down there ourselves. We need the salvage. The Pegasus was the prototype for many of the systems that's still used on the Enterprise, and it'll be easy enough to convert and modify some of the older systems to be compatible with our newer ones. We needs the spare parts to repair the ship, and it might also give us a good hiding place in case the Borg decide to show up." Riker explained, "If anyone has any better ideas, I'm all ears."

After a few moments of silence, Shelby finally agreed. She knew the risks of taking a starship so deep inside a planetary body. There were just so many unforeseen variants that could damage or even destroy the Enterprise. However, he was right, they need the salvage and they had the perfect opportunity to do it. All they had to do was take the ship inside. "Aye, sir." She said. "Worf, raise the shields and engage the inertial dampeners at maximum."

"Aye, Commander." Said Worf and did as he was told

"Wes, plot a course into the chasm, maneuvering thrusters only." Said Riker

"Aye, sir; course plotted." Wesley responded

Taking a moment to catch his breath, he gave the order. "Take us in."

* * *

**Authors Note****: **I hope everyone is enjoying reading this story so far. I would like to know what you think about it, and how it's progressing. I think I pretty much have it down, in how I plan to take and develop this story and the characters. But if you have idea in how you want to see things turn up, just let me know.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three: Stardate 47310.3 (24 April, 2370)**

"Take us in." Riker had ordered, and so they did. The Enterprise, still operating on silent running, glided gracefully into the deep chasm of asteroid Gamma 601 and disappeared into the rock face, like a tiny guppy in the maw of a giant shark. The giant spotlights of the Enterprise illuminated the inner jagged and rocky inner surface of the asteroid as it swam threw the empty space of the ever tightening chasm.

"We are now two kilometers beneath the surface." Said Data as the ship suddenly rocked back and forth.

"We are encountering shifts in the magnetic field density." Said Worf as the Enterprise shook again.

"This may get too dangerous." Said Shelby

"You might be right… If the passage narrows to less than 500 meters, we'll have to abort the salvage operation and figure out something else." Said Riker

"Agreed." Shelby responded

"Captain, I am reading a large resonance signature directly ahead." Stated Worf.

As they stared at the static filled view screen, slowly, the profile of a grey colored Federation starship came into view. Standing from his command chair and approaching the center of the Helm and Conn. Riker stared at the screen with great intensity as Shelby joined him. As the Enterprise came closer, and the designation on the surface of the saucer section of the ship became clearer, Riker's eyes widened.

"NCC-53847… It's the Pegasus." He said

"But that's not possible… What the hell happened?" asked Shelby

"The sensor shows that the ship is still intact, however, 65 percent of the ship is contained within the asteroid." Said Data as he read the information on his console.

"It looks like half of the ship materialized inside solid rock." Wesley said, perplexed by what they were seeing

"Yes, however, I do not understand how this could have happened." Data responded

"All stop." Said Riker suddenly

"Aye, sir. All stop." Said Wesley

"You know what happened, don't you?" Shelby asked in a hushed tone

"I think I might have an idea." Riker told her. "Worf, I want you to recall the bridge night watch staff immediately, and inform all the senior staff to meet in the observation lounge in the ten minutes. We have a lot to talk about."

"Aye, sir." Said Worf

"Wesley, I'm going to need you to remain in command on the bridge while the rest of us are in the meeting. I'm sorry to do this, but I need someone with a great deal more experience to be in charge of the night watch staff. I promise you'll be briefed as soon as we're done in there." Said Riker

"Don't worry sir, I don't mind. I promise that everything will go smoothly and nothing will happen." Said Wesley

"Thanks."

* * *

**Ten Forward…**

Timothy Joshua Harris was sitting at the bar and slowly sipping his glass of lukewarm water. He had just come off duty from the bridge on night watch and he was tired. Unlike most of the others onboard the Enterprise, Timothy had only been here for two years. He had spent most of his childhood aboard the USS Vico, a Federation science and research vessel. The Vico was an Oberth class science ship, with minimal shielding and weapons. The Vico had been given to a civilian research agency, on loan, which Timothy didn't mind. Honestly, he didn't even really care what being "on loan" even meant at the time. He just knew that he was going to be able to spend time with both of his parents. His dad was promoted to Lt. Commander as was reassigned as the ship's second office and his mother would be assigned as the ship's systems engineer. It was the first time in years that all three of them had been together as a family. He could remember celebrating his twelfth birthday right before they were all transferred, and he couldn't have been happier…

But then The Borg happened… How in the world that the Vico had managed to survive that long against the Borg, he never knew. But it did, for two long and miserable years, until their final encounter with the Borg. The Vico's captain had ordered the ship into a region of space known as the Black Cluster. The Black Cluster was a type of spatial cluster that's created when numerous proto-stars collapse in close proximity to one another. The result of this collective collapse is an area of space that absorbs energy and has intense gravitational distortions within the region. This particular cluster was located in Sector 9-7 and was formed about 9 billion years ago, from hundreds of collapsed proto-stars, and was seven times more massive than any black cluster that had been previously sighted before.

They were being pursued by a Borg probe ship. At nearly 400 meters in length, the Borg probe ship was the smallest of all the Borg vessels encountered, and yet it was still much larger than the Vico, and it was closing in. But then, all of a sudden the Borg ship had stopped chasing them, and after several seconds, it just turned around and went away. No one on the ship knew why the Borg had stopped their pursuit, nor did they care. They were just happy that they did. Then unexpectedly, the ship shook. He could remember his father telling him and his mother stay in their quarters while he went back to the bridge to see what was happening. He could still remember looking out the window of their quarters and seeing a huge gravitational wave front approaching the ship. As he watched it come closer to the ship, it just got bigger, and bigger, and bigger in the window until he couldn't even see the edges of the wave front anymore. Then the ship shook again, even more violently than before.

The lights turned red and the red alert klaxons started blaring, his mother tried to get in touch with the bridge to see what was going on, but was unable to. He could remember his mother telling him to stay in their quarters while she went down the main computer core to attempt to get internal communications back online… That was the last time he would ever see her… Even though his mother had told him to stay in their quarters, he didn't listen. He ran from their quarters after another wave front struck the ship and knocked him off his feet and into the nearest bulk head. He ran all the way to the bridge, and with all the chaos happening, no one even noticed when he entered. The lights were flickering on and off all over the ship and even the artificial gravity had failed in certain sections. When the doors slid open to the bridge all he could hear was people frantically screaming, "More shields, we need more power to shields!"

The body of the Captain lay still in the captain's chair, with a fallen overhead support strut piercing directly through his body and the chair itself. A large pool of blood, streaming down the support strut, had formed at the base of the chair. He heard his father's voice barking out commands from the smoke filled bridge, "We need more power to shields damn it!" As he turned to see where his father's voice was coming from, one of the bridge consoles exploded near him and caused him to scream as he crashed to the floor. "Timothy, what the hell are you doing here!?" He heard his father scream. He looked up to see his father run to him from within the smoke and lifted him to his feet from his arms. "Damn it Timothy, what are you doing here? Go back to our quarters! Now!"

He didn't really remember too much after that moment, he can remember being scared and doing what his father told him to do. He was running back towards their quarters, but then nothing. The best that he could contemplate what happened next was that the ship must've been hit by another gravitational wave front. He knows that he was buried under a pile of rubble and debris a few decks down, near their quarters, but he doesn't remember how he got there. In fact, the next thing that he does remember was waking up under a pile of rubble and debris that was being lifted away from his body by a man in a Starfleet uniform, which was impossible, because the debris must have weighed a ton, at least. The man identified himself as Lt. Commander Data from the USS Enterprise, and that he was not human, but an android. He threw the debris off to the side as if it was made of foam instead of reinforced duranium. Moments later he was beamed aboard the Enterprise. It was in much better condition than the Vico was, considering, but the Vico was his home, and now it was gone…

Worse than that, he had learned that he was the only survivor… Which meant that his parents were dead... He had shut down emotionally and had taken Data as a role model of sorts. To be able to function in carrying out your duties without the emotional baggage that comes with being human. Originally the Enterprise had gone into the Black Cluster because it was devoid of Borg activity, and they soon found out why. The ship was bombarded with the same gravitational distortion waves just like the Vico was. The more power they routed to the shields, the more violent and destructive the waves became. It was this memory of his father on the bridge calling for more power to the shields that was the key in saving the Enterprise that day.

The lights were dim, the room was silent, and at the moment there was no one else in Ten Forward except for him and the bar tender, Guinan. She was dark skinned and wearing a red colored tunic like robe and an odd oval shaped hat. Guinan was an El-Aurian, a race of "listeners" who were scattered by the Borg a little over a century ago.

"Penny for your thoughts." She said

"Excuse me?" Said Timothy

"Penny for your thoughts? It's an old Earth saying, it means 'What are you thinking about?'" Guinan replied.

"Oh… Nothing much actually, just some old memories." He said

"What kind of memories?" She replied and began to wipe down the counter with a dry rag.

He looked at her for a while, a little timid to answer. He didn't know Guinan very well, but she seemed like a good person. "I was thinking about my parents…" he said solemnly

"Ah, I see." Said Guinan. "Were they good memories or bad memories?"

"A little of both I guess." Said Timothy

"Anything you'd like to get off your chest?" she asked

"Not really… At least nothing that I haven't already talked about before …" he replied.

"Okay" she smiled, "Well, if you have anything that you do want to talk about later, you know where to find me." Said Guinan and began to walk off.

"Actually…" Timothy started to say and then hesitated.

"What is it Timothy?" she said

"May I ask you a something" he asked

Guinan smiled at the question, "I believe you just did."

"Oh, yeah… I guess you're right. Well then, can I ask you a question after this one?" Said Timothy

"Of course you can. What was it that you wanted to ask?" She said

"How did you, you know, get through it?" he asked hesitantly

"Get through what exactly?" said Guinan

"It's just that…" again he said hesitantly. "I don't want to sound offensive or rude or anything, but… I heard that your people were assimilated by the Borg over a century ago?" He finally stated as he traced the rim of the glass. "I'm just curious, how did you get through it all?"

Guinan couldn't help herself but to smile a little as she always did. She knew the boy didn't mean any harm by asking the question and that he was genuinely curious. "I know you're not trying to be rude Timothy, and believe me when I say that there was no offense taken. To answer your question, yes, they were. The Borg swept into our home system a little over a century ago, much like they did Earth." Said Guinan.

Memories came flooding back to her mind now of that terrifying day. Her people were known as the El-Aurians, and her homeworld was called El-Auria. It was a beautiful, lush and vibrant world, much like Earth was before the Borg came. But now, there was nothing left of her world or her people. "There were hundreds of ships surrounding our homeworld… We fought back as hard as we could, but in the end, we simply weren't strong enough to defeat them. The few of us that survived cluttered on ships that were never meant to house as many people as they did... Transport ships, merchant vessels, commerce ships. What little was left of my people became not only refugees, but also an endangered species. My people once numbered nearly 12 billion, but after the Borg destroyed my world, we numbered less than 1,000... The few of us who survived were scattered all across the galaxy."

Timothy thought about her words. What the Borg did to her people was very similar to what happened to Earth when the Borg invaded. He could remember his parents talking about it; the emotions would often go back and forth between sadness and anger. But then again, he supposed every race that had encountered the Borg all suffered the same fate, and except for those on the Enterprise, he had heard of none that survived their encounter. "Then what happened? I don't mean to be nosey, and I know you that eventually made it to Earth, but how did you survive?"

"I almost didn't." she said. "The ship I was on was called the Lakul. It was a small sized transport ship which was designed for a crew of about 15 people, but when the Borg attacked, it took on a total of 150 passengers. Far more than it was actually intended for, plus the fact that ships of its class were only capable of warp four. Life was very hard to say the least. We ran when we couldn't hide, and we hid when we couldn't run, and only fought back when we had absolutely no other choice. There many times when we thought we would never make it… Eventually we came across the Federation and they took us in, when no one else would. Not all of us made though… Only 47 of us survived in the end."

"What happened? If you don't mind me asking?" he said

"I don't mind at all Timothy. The memories of what happened to my people are still painful to think about, but sometimes it is our pain that mold us into the people we become, and makes us stronger in order to cope with the situations we currently find ourselves in… Anyway, what happened was the Nexus." Said Guinan

"The Nexus?" said Timothy

Guinan smiled, "I'm not surprised you haven't heard of it. It was a rather small footnote in Federation history. The Nexus is an extra dimensional realm in which one's thoughts and desires shape reality. Once you're inside the Nexus, time has no meaning, allowing one to visit any time and any place that one can imagine."

"I'm sorry but I'm a little confused. How is that even possible?" he said

"Think of it as being inside joy. As if joy was something tangible that you can touch and feel, like it was a blanket that you could pull over yourself at night and be inside it; and all of your dreams are made true. That's what the Nexus was like… When they rescued me, I wanted nothing more than to go back to it." She said

"Really?" he said

"Oh yes, when I was inside I saw all of my family and friends again. Back to life, smiling, laughing, and telling stories as if the Borg never existed… It was wonderful. But when they beamed us away, it was like being ripped apart. Torn away from that joy. It felt like apart of me was left behind. It took a long time, but eventually I came to except that I would never return, and that no matter how much I may have wanted it, my family would never come back." Guinan explained

"Then what?" said Timothy, but before Guinan had a chance to continue her story Lt. Worf's voice blared over the inter-comm.

"_**This is Lt. Worf to all night watch bridge personnel, return to your duty stations immediately. I say again, all night watch personnel return to your duty stations immediately. Lt. Worf out."**_

"Great… It looks like to have to go back on duty again for some reason." Said Timothy

"I'm sure it's for a good reason, they wouldn't call the night watch back on duty right after you've been relieved unless they have a very good reason." Guinan said assuredly.

"Yeah I hope so." Said Timothy as he gulped down his glass of water. "See you later Guinan."

Guinan simply nodded her head and watched Timothy leave Ten Forward, and as he did so, she slowly made her way from behind the bar and walked over to the forward windows. Staring out into a field of dark rock, and watched as the giant search lights of the Enterprise passed over the hull of a Federation starship… A starship that was half buried in solid rock. "Well… This should turn out to be very interesting."

* * *

The Observation Lounge was dark as the lighting was practically non-existent except for the flickering of the deck lighting and the dim illumination of the search lights reflecting off the rock face of the inner asteroid through the windows. All the senior staff had finally arrived and had taken their seats at the table in the observation lounge; and just outside the windows, what was usually a field of stars was filled with a field of the interior of a rocky asteroid with the half buried starship Pegasus. Riker sat at the head of the table in the captain's position, Shelby off to his immediate left followed by Data, and Worf; and off to his immediate right was La Forge, Ogawa and O'Brien as the most senior of the enlisted personnel.

"Alright… Well let's just get right down to it shall we. That ship out there, the one buried inside that rock… Is the Pegasus." Stated Riker

"But how is that possible, according to Starfleet records the Pegasus was destroyed 12 years ago." Said Shelby, still not truly believing in it.

"What do you know of the Pegasus Shelby?" Riker asked

"Only that the Pegasus was an experimental prototype, and that there was an accident onboard that destroyed the entire ship. There's not much else, at least nothing that wasn't classified." Said Shelby

"Yes well, there's far more than that to the story… I served aboard the Pegasus 12 years ago as an ensign. I was fresh out of the academy and the Pegasus was my first assignment. The purpose of the Pegasus was to test the new systems designs created by Starfleet scientists. Everything aboard the Pegasus was new and experimental." Riker stated

"But why an Oberth class science vessel? The Oberth class starships weren't exactly new; they'd been in service for nearly 100 years at that point." Said O'Brien

"That was the idea; no one would give a second look at such an old design as something potentially valuable. But believe me, the Pegasus was the forerunner for most of the systems onboard the Enterprise." Said Riker

"But what happened? How did it end up inside the asteroid like that?" asked Shelby

"That's where the story gets… Interesting… You see, the Pegasus wasn't just experimenting with new Starfleet systems." He paused to catch his breath, and to gather the courage to say the words that he had choked down from saying 12 years ago when he was still young. "We were also experimenting with a new Federation cloaking device."

A hush fell over the senior staff, looking to one another in an awkward stillness, everyone lost in their own thoughts. "Sir, a cloaking device? Wasn't that a violation of the Treaty of Algeron?" asked Shelby

"What does it matter now?" Worf stated. "A cloaking device can be of great benefit to us. Especially since the Borg have never encountered a Federation designed cloaking device, we may be able to use it to our advantage and remain hidden from their sensors."

"I agree." Said O'Brien. "We could modify it to be compatible with the Enterprise's systems and use it to get around the Borg without being seen."

"I know that, I wasn't trying to argue against its use. On the contrary, I believe the same as you two that the cloaking device will be greatly beneficial for us. However, I am trying to understand what led to its development. At the time any violation of the Treaty could have led to war with the Romulan Empire, and the creation of a Federation cloaking device was certainly a violation. Sir, weren't you at all concerned about the potential consequences?" she asked

"At the time, no, I have to say I wasn't. I was fresh out of the academy and I truly believed that what our Captain was doing was in the best interest of the Federation. I still had words like Honor, Loyalty, and Duty ringing through my head. You see, it wasn't just a normal cloaking device that was being developed on the Pegasus. Captain Pressman had called it the Phasing Cloak, you see just it doesn't simply surround the ship in a cloaking field. In theory it actually alters the state of matter, and phases it out of sync with normal space-time. By doing so, the ship would actually be able to pass through normal matter and conventional energy based weapons would have effect on it." Stated Riker

"What? Is that even possible?" asked Ogawa

"Well it would certainly explain the state of the Pegasus right now." Said La Forge

"But how did it get here in the first place? What the hell happened?" asked O'Brien

"That's the hard part of the story… You see there was a mutiny." Said Riker

Gasps were followed by stunned silence. "Sir, a mutiny aboard a Federation starship is shocking, it's unbelievable. In fact, since the birth of the Federation the occurrences of mutiny could be counted on one hand." Said Shelby

"Sir, exactly what chain of events occurred in order to convince the crew to mutiny against their Captain onboard the Pegasus?" asked Data

"Captain Pressman believed that the Treaty of Algeron, as well intentioned as it may have been to bring about peace between the Federation and the Romluan Empire, was the biggest mistake in Federation history. He thought that the treaty outlawed the Federation from exploring an extremely vital field of defense… So the experiments began…" said Riker, and after a short pause, he continued. "I was on the bridge, the ship was at yellow alert and we were running some tests on the engines, but something went wrong. There was an explosion in Engineering… Heavy casualties… In the midst of this crisis the First Officer, the Chief Engineer and most of the bridge crew mutinied against Captain Pressman."

"Why?" asked La Forge

"Because they thought that Captain Pressman was endangering the lives of the crew and the ship." Said Riker, pausing for a moment as memories from that day flashed through his mind.

"Personally, I thought that they were a bunch of disloyal, self-serving group of officers. So I grabbed a phaser and defended my Captain. Two or three more joined us but by then it was already too late, the mutineers had most of the crew behind them. It was obvious that we had to leave the ship; it was a running fire-fight all the way to the escape pods. About five minutes after we escaped the ship there was a giant explosion in space. We assumed that it was the Pegasus."

"To mutiny against their own Captain, those officers were without honor." Worf stated

"They did what they thought was right and tried to protect the ship and their crew." Said Ogawa

"It was not their place to make such decisions; their duty was to obey their Captain's orders. It is the responsibility of the Captain to decide what was right or not." Said Worf

"That's no longer the issue." Said Riker. "What's done is done, nothing can change the past. The issue at hand is what to do now. If things had turned out another way, if the Federation was still here, then I might feel differently about it. But for right now, I'm glad that what happened on the Pegasus happened the way they did."

"Sir?" said Shelby

"I'm glad because the Pegasus was not actually destroyed. I'm glad because we can salvage what's left of the Pegasus that's not buried in solid rock. Power inverters, plasma conduits, computer components, sensor relays and so on; and if we're extremely the phase-cloak itself. If it survived." Said Riker "We might never get another chance like this one again, and if that phase-cloak is still aboard that ship, we have to take it."

"But what if it didn't survive and is buried in rock like most of the ship?" asked O'Brien

"Then we take the opportunity that we do have and get everything else that we can from the Pegasus." Riker replied. "I mean everything, from the computers, the bulkheads, even the carpets. Absolutely nothing will be going to waste from that ship. I want that ship gutted, and when that's completed, I want it stripped of all it outer hull plating. We can use them to repair some of our hull damage. I want absolutely nothing left of the Pegasus except for its bones. The only thing that should be left behind should be nothing more than the frame work of its skeleton."

"The potential for salvaging replacement parts and equipment from the Pegasus is highly in our favor. Sensors show that a little more than approximately one-third of the ship is still intact and appear to be undamaged." Said Data

"That's welcomed news." Said La Forge

"I'd certainly say so." O'Brien agreed. "Even if it is only one-third of an Oberth Class starship; the components onboard can go a long way in restoring our systems. They might not end up at 100 percent, but they'll certainly be a hell of a lot better than what they are now."

"What about the condition of the sickbay?" Ogawa asked

"The sensors indicated that approximately half of the sickbay was buried within the rock face doctor." Data replied

"What about Engineering?" asked Geordi

"The starboard bulkhead of main Engineering is contained within the rock face, but most of its compartment is still intact. However there is a hull breach in that section." Data replied

"If we began a power transfer, can we restore life support systems to that compartment?" asked Riker

"I believe so, sir. The breach can be temporarily sealed by extending our shields." Said Data

"Good, see to it. Once we've restored life support we're going to start the salvage operation beginning with Main Engineering. Then we will move section by section, salvaging everything that we possibly can." Said Riker

"Finally, after four years of running and hiding… It looks like we may have finally have some luck on our side for once." Said O'Brien

"I agree." Said Worf

"Me too." Said Ogawa

"I think we all do. We'll stay here inside the asteroid for as long as it takes to complete the salvage. It'll take weeks, maybe months to do it on our own. But when we're done, we'll be better for it. We might have to re-flood the asteroid with ionizing radiation from time-to-time just to be on safe side in case of a Borg incursion in the system. But in the end it'll be worth it." Said Riker

"Especially if can get the cloak online with our systems. We'll have a distinct tactical advantage." Stated Worf

"Alright then, if there are no more comments or concerns at this time, I say we start getting to work." Said Riker, and when no one replied he continued. "Good. Geordi I want you to assemble your team, and when you're done I want you to meet me in the transporter room in 20 minutes."

"Aye, sir." He responded

"Sir? Why are you going over?" asked Shelby

"I'm going over because I'm the only one who knows what the cloaking device looks like and how to disengage it from the engineering systems onboard the Pegasus without potentially damaging it in the process… Besides, I have some old ghosts aboard that ship that I need to make amends for." He stated

Shelby let his words sink in for a moment, and even though she didn't with his decision to go over there, with as many dangers there were, she understood what he was trying to say. "Aye, sir."

"Okay then, let's go people."

* * *

**The Pegasus, Main Engineering...**

Silver, shimmering, sparkling light flooded the corridors of a starship that had been encased in solid rock for over a decade. Slowly the sparkling light coalesced into the human forms of Captain William Riker, Lt Commander Geordi La Forge, Lt Reginald Barclay, Ensign Sonya Gomez, and Jay Gordon. After rematerializing back to normal, the away team all turned on their lights to peer into the darkness, which was soon followed by a short scream by their youngest away team member.

"Jay what's wrong!?" said Sonya as Jay pointed towards the body of a fairly young, and completely frozen, female engineer.

"Ensign Makato…" said Riker

"You knew her sir?" asked Geordi

"Barely, but from what I remember, she was a good person." He responded and tapped on his comm. Badge. "Away team to Transporter Room Three."

"Chief O'Brien here, sir." Said O'Brien

"I want a constant lock on our signals chief, just in case the Borg happen to stop by, I don't want to be caught with our pants down." Said Riker

"Aye, sir." He replied and kept the transporter lock

They made their way past the body of Ensign Makato and into the main engineering compartment. "It's hard to believe that this room was open to space for twelve years." Riker stated.

"Vacuum… It preserved everything." Said Reg.

They cautiously made their way over to one of the dimly lit computer consoles, Riker punched in a few commands and suddenly the entirety of Pegasus's Main Engineering came to life. No flickering lights or dimmed lights, but bright and pristine. It took their eyes a moment to adjust because it has been years since they were used to full lighting.

"Everything looks completely brand new. If I didn't know better, I'd swear that this ship was constructed yesterday."

"I know what you're feeling, I haven't seen a ship this clean and in good condition for years." Said Sonya

As they looked around, the bodies of a few more of the Pegasus's crew members revealed themselves, and all in the same state as Ensign Makato. Riker slowly made his way passed the body in the chair, by the computer console where they had just been, and to the exposed rock face of the asteroid just behind the warp core. "I wonder how many of the crew were buried back there." He said to himself. "Rest in Peace my friends… Forgive me…" Bowing his head in sadness he slowly turned to his away team to focus at the task at hand. Making his way down to the main science station, he removed the front panel and exposed a one meter tall, cylindrical shaped device. Taking out his tricorder, he took a detailed reading of the device and smiled. "It's still intact."

"Is this it, sir?" asked Geordi as he came up behind him.

"Yes it is. Geordi I want you to come with me. Reg, Sonya, Jay; I want the three of you to stay here and scan the area to see what we can salvage. Once you've completed your scans, report back to the Enterprise with your findings so we can begin the salvage operation." Said Riker

"Aye, sir" the three of them said in unison.

"Riker to the Enterprise, two and one piece of equipment to beam up." And almost instantly a wave of sparkling, silver light washed over Riker and La Forge, along with the phase-cloaking device, and then disappeared.

"Alright, let's get to it." Said Reg and began to take readings with his tricorder when he noticed that Jay was still standing there.

"Jay? What's wrong?" he asked

"The people." He said looking from one frozen body to another. "They almost look like they're sleeping."

"Almost, but they're not. They've been dead for a very long time." Said Reg

"What are we going to do with them?" said Jay

For that question, Reg truly didn't have an answer because he really didn't know what they were going to do. Thankfully Sonya stepped in to alleviate Jay's unease. "I'm sure Captain Riker has a plan for all of them. He was a part of their crew once; in fact some of these people were probably his friends." She said as she placed her hand on his shoulder and gently squeezed

"Really?" he said

"Really..." Sonya replied. "But for right now, we have to get back to work first. The Enterprise and everyone on it are counting on us. We have to get these scans done and start salvaging everything we can from the Pegasus so we can repair the Enterprise and get her running in top shape again."

After a few moments, Jay finally gathered himself to the task at hand, "Okay. I'm fine now."

"Good, now I want to you to take your tricorder and scan the warp core, especially the dilithium matrix chamber, can you do that?" she asked

"Yeah I can do that." he said confidently

"Good, now go ahead while Reg and I scan the rest of this section. Okay." She said

"Okay." Jay stated and slowly walked over to the warp core, ignoring the bodies of the Pegasus's former crewman, to begin his scans.

Reg and Sonya tiptoed into the dark corridor just outside engineering in order to speak quietly to each other. "He's too young to see anything like this, let alone to be on an away team." Said Sonya

"I know, but then again he's already seen far too much in the last four years than anyone his age should have seen under normal circumstances." Said Reg

"True… But still…" Sonya stated

"Hey," said Reg as he softly caressed her face. "It's going to be okay, he's a tough kid. They all are. With everything all those kids on the Enterprise have been through, they have to be." He said

"I know… But it's just not fair." She said as she leaned in and gently touched her forehead to his.

"No said life ever was… We just have to do the best with what we got. What other choice do we have?" he asked her

"I know Reg… I'm just tired that's all…" she said

"I know honey, we all are." He said and turned to see Jay still taking his scans of the warp core. "Come on, we got work to do. Besides, salvaging this ship is the best thing that's happened to us in very long time."

Sonya looked into his eyes and smiled, "You're right, we should get back to work." She said as she caressed the back of his head and slowly brought it closer to hers, and kissed.

* * *

**Author's Note:** It's been a while since my last update but I hope that everyone is enjoying the story so far. So please review and let me know how you think about it.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four: Stardate 47326.9 (30 April, 2370)**

It has been six days since the discovery of the Pegasus in the Devolin System and the start of the salvage operation to retrieve the components onboard. Although it was going slow, it has also been very successful. The senior staff was once again seated in the observation lounge.

"Status reports on the Pegasus salvage." Riker started the brief. "How are we doing people? Geordi let's start with you. How are you doing down in Engineering?"

"Well, sir." Said Geordi. "Things are going very well. As you know it took us a few hours to calibrate the phase-cloak with the Enterprise's system. However, with the current state of the ship's computers, it has taken us nearly the entire week to successfully run all the tests and simulations to see whether the cloak would actually work."

"Will it?" he asked

"Yes, we believe it will. But, we had to route the impulse engines through the plasma conduits, and we're going to have to watch the inter-coolant levels. If they get too high, we'll blow the entire relay system." Geordi explained

"Maybe that's what happened to the Pegasus twelve years ago." Said Shelby

"I agree. The cloak must've blown out the plasma relays after we left in the escape pods. The plasma ignited in space, and it looked as if the ship had been destroyed." Said Riker

"The ship then drifted into this system still in a phased state, and when it passed through this asteroid the cloak failed." Said Data

"And half of the ship rematerialized inside solid rock." Concluded Riker

"It would seem so, sir." Said Geordi

"What are the odds of the same thing happening to us?" he asked

"As long as we keep the inter-coolant levels at optimum performance and not allow it to get too high, we should be fine." Said Geordi

"That's good to hear. Doctor Ogawa, what about you? How are we doing in sickbay?" he asked her.

"Well, I don't like to say this but, we were getting pretty desperate down there before we came into this system. It was so bad in fact that I was actually trying to recall the procedures of how to amputate limbs without the use of anesthetics and antibiotics." She said

"Were we really getting that desperate?" asked Shelby

"Yes we were… We've ran out of practically everything by the time we entered this asteroid field." Said Ogawa

"And now?" asked Riker

"Well, I'm glad to say that we're doing much better. We've recovered everything we could from the Pegasus's sickbay. Even though half the sickbay was inside the rock face of the asteroid, we were able to bring our medical inventory back up to nearly 50 percent of our original stockpile. Luckily for us, the pharmacy did not materialize inside the asteroid." Said Ogawa

"If that is true, then why are we only at 50 percent?" asked Worf

"The Pegasus is a much smaller ship than the Enterprise with a much smaller crew. In truth, I'm surprised we were able to recover so much. Standard medical inventory of an Oberth class ship should be far less than what we salvaged, but for some reason the Pegasus had nearly twice as much as it should have." She explained

"I can only guess that the reason it had so much was because of the nature of the mission. There were bound to be accidents in testing out the new experimental systems onboard. Also it may also have had so much because the sickbay itself was also a new design, that later became standard on all Starfleet ships." Said Riker

"Either way, I'm grateful." Said Ogawa

"We all are." Riker stated "Miles, how about you?"

"Well sir, the dilithium that was brought back was in nearly perfect condition with less than one percent of crystalline degradation. With that much dilithium still intact, along with the replacement parts for the main reactor and warp plasma conduit manifolds, we should be able to get old girl back up and running at about warp 8.95. Maybe even warp 9.3 if we push it." Said O'Brien.

"8.95! We haven't been able to go that fast in almost two years." Said Shelby

"Also, we have been able to recover a little over 70 percent of the Pegasus's industrial replicator from its main cargo bay. As soon as we're able to repair our own industrial replicator in our main cargo bay, we'll be able to replicate any spare part we need, and we'll also be able to get the rest of the replicator systems back online and working again." Said O'Brien

"How long will that take?" Riker asked eagerly, knowing full well what it meant to have the replicators back up running again. It would mean food, water, clothes, hygiene supplies, and almost anything else that they will need in the future. Ever since they lost the replicators, the crew had been on a constant decline, both in health and morale. Keiko O'Brien had done her best over the last few years to grow food in the hydroponics bay, and her efforts have kept the crew alive. In fact, that very morning Riker had a small bowl of carrot and potato soup, with that being said, the human body simply needed a lot more than what was being provided. Since the loss of the replicators the state of repair of the ship had also begun to fail. But if they were able to get them back up, then that will all change for the better.

"At the current pace of work…" O'Brien thought briefly. "Five, maybe six days."

"Excellent. I think I speak on behalf of the entire crew when I say that getting the replicators back online will be a great relief for everyone." Said Riker, "Worf, your turn. What do you got?"

"My team and I were able to recover 29 photon torpedoes from the ship's torpedo bay, sir, and they are in perfect condition. My team is modifying them now to operate at random frequency modulations when fired, the same as the rest of our torpedoes. We've also managed to salvage three shield generators and two, mark-nine, fusion reactors as well." Stated Worf

"That's great. The extra shields will help, and the fusion reactors as well. We need all of the power we can get." Said Riker

"I agree, sir. It should only take a couple of days to modify the shield generators and to get them in sync with our own systems." Said Worf. "There is one other thing, sir."

"What would that be?" asked Riker

"The ship's two phaser arrays, both of them have survived intact but it'll be weeks before we are able to salvage them form the Pegasus and install them onto the Enterprise." Said Worf

"I understand, by the rate we're moving, we are going to be here for quite some time salvaging everything we can from the ship. Do what you can." Said Riker

"Aye, sir." Said Worf

"The Oberth class science vessels were only armed with Type Four phasers. I'm assuming that because the Pegasus was a prototype that these phasers are more advanced." Said Shelby

"That's right; the Pegasus was armed with the very first Type Ten phaser arrays. The test firings were successful, but the emitter arrays were running a little too hot when doing so." Said Riker. "We need to remember to keep an eye on that when we get around to installing them on the ship."

"Yes, sir." Said Worf

"I suggest we install them on the dorsal hull of the warp nacelles. It'll give us more firing coverage in that area of the ship." Said Shelby

"I agree, the added firepower from the two nacelles will be of great benefit." Said Worf

"So do I, when it's time to install the phasers get with Geordi and his team for help." Said Riker

"Yes, sir." Worf replied

"Data, what do you have to report?" asked Riker

"Unfortunately, we were unable to retrieve any of the ship's shuttle pods, sir. The entire Shuttle bay was materialized inside the asteroid. However, we have been able to begin retrieval operations on the ships internal power replays, plasma conduits, isolinear circuitry systems, gravitational deck platings, energy induction manifolds, and transporter systems." Said Data

"That's good news, because we can certainly use them right now; especially in the lower decks. We need to get the science labs back up and running again so Wesley and Reg can continue with their research." Said Riker

"I agree. Their study in the Borg's technology is crucial to our defense against them." Said Data

"The science labs haven't been operational in over eight months, before they went out of commission, Wes and Reg both said that they really were on to something." Said La Forge

"Hopefully we can get the labs up and running again so they can finish what they started." Riker said. "Shelby, you're the last one. What do you have for me?" he asked her

"We've been able to dismantle the computer consoles on the main bridge and salvage the parts, everything from the main view screen to the overhead lighting. Once the final installations are complete on our own bridge, Wesley and his team will be ready to move on to Deck Two." Said Shelby

"Excellent, it's going to be good to be able look at a clear view screen again." Riker stated

"Yes, sir." She said

"How are everyone's teams doing? I know that most of them are young and inexperienced. How are they holding up?" Asked Riker

"Well that is true, sir. But despite their age and inexperience, at least speaking for those on my team, they are very eager and motivated to learn. I believe it makes them feel important to know that they all have some very important jobs to do. Especially right now, knowing what this salvage means to the entire ship." Said O'Brien

"It is the same with mine as well. Though the younger members are lacking in knowledge and experience. Their attention and diligence to their duties are commendable. Had the Federation not fallen, I believe that they all would have made honorable Starfleet officers one day." Stated Worf

"The Federation… And Starfleet for that matter… As a living entity and as an organization may have fallen to the Borg. But it still exists here on the Enterprise, and as long as we live, it will always exist. In our minds, our hearts, and in our deeds. The legacy of the Federation and everything it stood for lives on, within us. We must survive no matter the odds against us. Because if we don't then none of this, nothing that we've ever accomplished will have ever mattered. It'll all have been for nothing… We can't let that happen. Not just for ourselves, but for our children and our children's children…" Riker said as he looked around the table at people who were not only his senior staff, but were also people who he considered to be his closest and dearest friends. "We must survive, and continue to live on for the next generation. Because the only other alternative… Is extinction."

* * *

As the doors slid open, Wesley entered the dark serenity of his quarters and collapsed on his bed like a ton of bricks, completely and utterly exhausted. He had just completed a 19 hour shift on the main bridge repairing and installing all the components and equipment that they had retrieved from the Pegasus' bridge. Replacing burned out and damaged components with other components that were practically brand new. He wanted to shower so bad he could feel it in his half-conscious state. But the showers weren't working yet… Yet… That was the key word. Because pretty soon they will be. It was all just a matter of time now. The discovery of the Pegasus had been a blessing. It'll take them weeks, maybe even months before they could strip her clean. But in the end it'll be more than worth it.

Forcing himself awake from falling asleep, he groaned as he sat up and slowly stripped off his red uniform shirt. Bone white scars revealed themselves on his back in the dim light. Scars that were gathered after four years constant struggle and suffering; being on the run and fighting against the Borg. Ugly scars on the body meant nothing. Physical scars can heal with time… It was the scars that you couldn't see; the scars on the inside were the ones that would never go away. The psychological and spiritual scars left behind by the pain brought upon everyone by the wretched, foul, scourge of the galaxy. Over the last four years Wesley had lost count of how many people he considered a friend, and the worst loss of all… His mother.

It was because of the Borg that his mother had burned to death. The worst part is, she didn't die instantly. It took her nine hours to do that, and she was conscious almost the entire time. Her pain was so great that her body wouldn't even let her pass out. She would slip into unconsciousness for only a few seconds, only to awake again screaming. He could still remember her blood curdling screams of agony as if it was yesterday and it haunted his dreams. She no longer resembled the ginger haired, blue eyed woman that was his mother. But instead she resembled some sort of atrocious abomination from his deepest nightmares. Her arms and legs had been burned down to stumps and half of her face was gone, revealing the bones underneath. Her body was entirely charred black and covered in giant blood filled blisters. Her eyes had even boiled grey, and the wretched stench of burned flesh and hair permeated the entire sickbay. But for some ungodly reason, she had not died. That would have been a mercy if she did. The wretched stench of burned flesh and hair permeated the entire sickbay. Staying alive for nine hours after she was burned was nothing more than cruelty beyond words could describe. He remembered running to sickbay from the bridge when he got the news of what happened and seeing his mother on the bio-bed… The first thing he did was vomit.

He doesn't remember much after that. The others told him that it took Worf and two others from his security team to drag out of sickbay. His own screaming howls of agony were too much and they needed to forcefully remove from sickbay so that Ogawa could do what she needed to do. In fact, he was told that his struggle was so violent that he actually dislocated one of the security team member's shoulders out of its socket. He apologized afterwards when he was able to pull himself together, but to this day he doesn't remember any of it. Ogawa tried everything that she could, but it was all in vain. None of the pain relievers had worked, nor did any of the sedatives in order to put her to sleep. The pain his mother's body was going through was entirely too much for anything to work. He didn't blame or hate Ogawa for not being able to help his mother, it wasn't her fault and she tried her best with what she had. In fact, he was grateful that she tried everything in her power to save her.

Slowly making it over to the non-functioning replicator on the other side of his quarters, he activated two, walnut sized, octagon shaped, holographic projectors and the images of his mother and father flickered to life. No bigger than the size of his hands, the two images of his parents smiled at him, as if they really were his parents. His small memorial to the two most important people in his life… Two people who were no longer with him… But here they were, forever preserved in holographic images. His father, not much older than Wesley at the time the image was taken, standing proud and strong in his red Starfleet uniform; and his mother, the image of grace and elegance taken only a few years before the Borg came.

"Mom, Dad… It's been a while since the last we talked." Wesley said, knowing full well that the 'conversations' were always one-sided. "It's been a good day, believe it or not. It's been a very long day, but a good one. You see, we found something. A starship actually, inside the asteroid, the Pegasus… We took the Enterprise inside the asteroid and have been salvaging it for a week now. It's been good to focus on something else, besides running away from the Borg and just surviving… We've just finished installing all the new parts from the Pegasus's bridge onto the Enterprise, and I have to say that it's pretty good to look at a clear view screen again." Wes smiled, and continued. "I miss you both… Sometimes I wish that you were both still here, but when I think about it more rationally… I'm glad you're not… I wouldn't want you two to suffer any more than what you already had. I wouldn't want to be so afraid of losing you again. Anyway… I just wanted to tell you guys that before going to bed." He said as he looked at their images one last time, before switching off the holographic projectors. "Goodnight."

* * *

The shuttlecraft Curry was a type-6 shuttlecraft that had just recently been refitted with the cannibalized parts from the only other remaining shuttlecraft on board the Enterprise, also a type-6. Before entering the Devolin System, the Enterprise had two shuttlecraft remaining, and although they were both flyable, both were in a great need of repair and hence unreliable. However, the shuttlecraft Lewis, being the less reliable of the two, was chosen for demolition and recycling. Every spare part that was able to be refurbished and reused in the repair of the shuttlecraft Curry was done so. Everything that wasn't, was recycled for its material. When it came right down to it, they needed a working and reliable shuttlecraft, and that was the simple truth of the matter. After the repairs were completed, the shuttlecraft Curry was immediately put to good use.

For the last 24 hours, Reg and Sonya were using the shuttlecraft to deliver four, Class-2 sensor probes at four strategically located asteroids in a radius of nearly 1,000 kilometers from Gamma 601. Placing them at these four locations would give them the maximum needed scanning range of the system. However, they had to be extremely careful in not attracting any attention from the Borg, just in case they happened to be in that region of space, by using their impulse engines. So they had been very careful and were only using the ships thrusters to maneuver themselves, and using the gravity fields of the larger asteroids like slings shots to move them to their desired positions, while the probes were being carried inside the shuttlecraft. The reasoning behind depositing the probes on the asteroids was simple. The Enterprise was still in a very vulnerable position inside the asteroid Gamma 601, and in order to minimize the chances of Borg detection, the ship was only performing passive scans. But they still needed more detailed scans of the system, without inviting any unwanted attention. So they decided to use the probes to relay more detailed sensor scans from the surrounding system.

However, the plasma wake from the probes' micro-fusion propulsion engines would be easily detectable by the Borg, should any happened to pass near the system. So it was decided that the shuttlecraft would ferry the probes to the desired locations, and anchor them to the asteroids surface. The notion being that, if the Borg did happen to pass by and detect one of the probes subspace signals, that it would only be the probe's signal the Borg would intercept. And should the Borg decide to enter the asteroid field and locate the probe, it would give the Enterprise enough time to gather their people from the Pegasus, engage the phase-cloak and escape.

Asteroid Tango 395 was the last asteroid to have a class-2 sensor probe delivered to its surface. Once completed, Reg and Sonya will return to the Enterprise for a much needed and deserved rest. "We're at 400 meters from the asteroid." Sonya stated. They were both in their EVA suits, and had been for the last half hour. Minus the gloves and the helmets. They weren't exactly designed for comfort, and both of them were getting irritated with putting them on and off every handful of hours or so. But they had a job to do which could make the difference between their survival, or their imminent demise, and they meant to do it to their utmost abilities. No matter how uncomfortable it may be.

"Good, take us in nice and slow." Said Reg

"I know Reg, we've been doing this all day." Huffed Sonya

"I know, there's no reason to get snippy." Reg said

"I'm sorry… I'm tired. I just want to get this over with so I can go back to the Enterprise and get some sleep." Said Sonya

"I know, so do I. But this is the last one, once it's done we can go back and sleep for as long as we want." Said Reg

"I wish, when we get back we'll probably get put on salvage detail on one of the engineering teams again right away." Said Sonya

"Well, even if that's true, it'll still take time to reach the Enterprise from here. We can take shifts and get some rest on the way back." Reg suggested

"Actually, that's a good idea." Said Sonya. "We are now 100 meters from the asteroid, slowing our approach." Sonya stated as she punched in the commands on the shuttle's control console. Thrusters fired, angling the shuttlecraft so that its rear hatch was pointed at the asteroid and fired again to bring the shuttle to a complete stop at only 50 meters from the asteroid's surface. "All stop." She said

"Alright, this is the last one, so let's do this and go home." Said Reg

"Got it." She replied

Reg walked back to the rear of the shuttle where the last of the probes remained. He then attached a magnetic tether to the probes outer hull casing and to his EVA suit's utility belt, while Sonya was releasing the straps that held the probe down to the shuttle's deck.

"Well that's done, now let's put on our gloves and helmets, and disengage the gravity." Said Reg

They both put on their gloves and helped each other with their helmets, and once they were sealed, Sonya made her way back to the command chair of the shuttle and strapped herself in. "Okay, here we go..." She said over the helmet's communicator. "Venting atmosphere." She stated and punched in the commands. A loud hiss could be heard as the air was flushed out into space, and then silence. "Atmosphere has been vented, disengaging artificial gravity." Reg and the probe suddenly began to float inside the shuttlecraft while Sonya remained firmly strapped in her seat. "Opening rear hatch." And as the rear hatch of the shuttle craft began to open, the rock face of Asteroid Tango 395 filled his vision. "Okay Reg, you be careful out there." Said Sonya

"Aren't I always?" he smiled back and slowly made his way out of the shuttle craft.

Using the thrusters on his EVA suit, he gently maneuvered himself out of the shuttle towards the asteroid's surface. The tether grew long and tight as Reg propelled himself forward, dragging the probe behind him. As he closed in to within 20 meters of the asteroid's surface, the angled himself around and fired his thrusters to slow his descent. Grabbing onto the probe, as its momentum kept moving it forward, he fired his thrusters again to slow both of them down. His feet hit the asteroid's rocky exterior but the probe's momentum pushed him down to his knees before he was able to halt its movement. It was a good thing that the asteroid had very little gravity of its own, because had this been performed on Earth, Reg would have been crushed by the probe's massive weight.

"I'm down." He relayed to Sonya. "I'm anchoring the probe to the surface now."

"I'll be waiting for you when you're done." She replied

Reg slowly pulled the probe down to his feet, and removed the magnetic tether from the probe's outer hull casing. After doing so, he slowly removed three flexible, duranium meshed cables from his utility belt, and placed one at the front of the probe, one in the middle and the last one at the rear. Once this was done, he took out a small fusion torch. Securing one end of the duranium cable to the asteroid's surface, he ignited the fusion torch at the end of the cable. The cabled melted and fused with the rock face of the asteroid, making it one with the asteroid itself. Reg walked around slowly to each cable until each end was fused the same way. As the last cable was completed, Reg returned the fusion torch to his utility belt and opened a side panel on the probe. Entering the activation code into a small keypad, which was no small feat on its own, considering the bulkiness of the EVA suit's gloves, the probe suddenly came to life and began relaying the sensor information back to the Enterprise.

"The probe is working, the Enterprise is receiving the data." Said Sonya

"Good, let's get out of here. I hate heights." Reg responded as he activated his thrusters and headed back towards the shuttle craft.

"Did you just say you hate heights? But you joined Starfleet, how can you hate heights and deliberately join an organization that travels in space?" Sonya asked

"Long story…" said Reg

"Well, we have the time." Said Sonya

"I'll tell you on our way back." He replied as he floated into the shuttle craft.

"You better." Sonya smiled, and closed the shuttle's rear hatch

* * *

**Stardate 47343.09 (06 May, 2370)**

Shelby awoke to the sound of her bedside alarm, the most annoying thing in the entire galaxy. _**"It is now, 0530... It is now, 0530… It is now, 0530…"**_ It kept repeating until she smacked it of the nightstand. "Of all the things on this ship that's never failed, why does it have to be the damn alarm?" She asked herself.

She slowly sat up on the edge of her bed, groaning as she did so. Even with being able to actually get eight hours of real sleep during the last week, since entering the asteroid field, it still never felt like it was enough. Brushing her long, wavy blonde hair aside with her hand, she slowly stood up with great effort and noticed that something was different. She couldn't place her hand on it, but something was definitely different in her quarters. Nothing was missing or out of place, and there was nothing that was actually wrong with her quarters, but something just didn't seem right. She started to go for her phaser and was about to call for security when she saw it. The small, insignificant thing that had made her nervous, for absolutely no reason. In fact, after she realized what it was it instantly had the opposite effect. It made her excited, hopeful in fact. It was a small, orange indicator light on the replicator control panel. A light that hasn't been operational in almost three years.

Like in a dream, she made her way closer to the replicator panel, eyes wide and her heart full of hope of the glowing light could mean. The distance from her bedside to the panel on the far wall seemed to stretch farther then she remember, and the closer she got the further away it was. But finally, after an agonizing handful of seconds that it took her to cross the room, she made it to the replicator. She closed her eyes shut tightly, and then after counting to ten, she opened them again… The light was still there… That beautiful glowing orange light… Her hand was trembling as she slowly raised it to the orange light, and touched it.

Suddenly the entire panel lit up like fireworks, filled with blue, green, yellow, and orange touch sensitive buttons. She gasped and quickly covered her mouth with her hands; tears began streaming down her face. Not because of fear, or pain; but with joy. Absolute and unfathomable joy. The replicators were online… The replicators were finally online… She fell to her knees and sobbed openly, unashamed for her emotional outburst. She remained there, on the floor of her quarters, crying into her hands for several minutes until she was finally able to compose herself and rose back up to her feet.

"You did! Miles you beautiful Irishman you actually did it!" She said aloud to herself. "I'd swear if you weren't already a married man I'd ride you like a stallion all day and night until you begged for mercy and passed out into a coma. But then again, Keiko is probably already doing that right now, isn't she?" She laughed. She tapped a button on the replicator panel again and spoke. "Computer, breakfast." Suddenly, the screen on the panel scrolled a menu of the most popular breakfast items. "I can't believe this… It's really working." She again said to herself, and tapped on breakfast menu item number three. Instantly, sparkling silver light filled the replicator with a gorgeous, shimmering luminance, and for approximately three seconds, it was the most beautiful thing that Shelby could remember. When the light faded away, in its place was her breakfast order.

Breakfast menu item number three, a tray that held large plate with a two-egg vegetarian omelet containing tomatoes, mushrooms, green onions, spinach and peppers, a side of lightly-golden hash browns, two country-style biscuits, a small bowl of strawberries, and a large of fresh orange juice to wash it all down with. The aroma was damn near overpowering as the fragrance of her favorite morning meal overwhelmed her senses. Her mouth was literally drooling as she lifted the tray and walked over to the dining table in the corner of her quarters. She couldn't remember the last time she actually used her table for a good meal. Balancing the tray in one arm, she used her other arm to sweep off the random assortment of old, dirty clothes and equipment to the floor, and lightly placed the tray of food in front of her. Pulling out the chair, she sat down to the best meal she'd had in years, and savored every moment of it.

After finishing her breakfast and feeling very satiated, she walked, or to state more accurately, skipped over to the bathroom like a little girl. Turning on the light, she caught her reflection in the mirror… She was smiling… She couldn't remember the last time she actually smiled… It was a good feeling. Just then, a strange thought came to mind. She looked over to her shower and wondered.

"If the replicators are working, then what about the showers?" She asked herself.

They were deactivated after the loss of the replicators in order to conserve what precious little water they had on hand. They had managed to increase their water preserves after traveling to worlds which held fresh water, but every time they did so, they were putting themselves at great risk of being discovered by the Borg.

"Now that the replicators are working, we can replicate as much water as we need to fill our reserves to full." She told herself, and walked over to the shower. Sliding back the frosted glass door, she peered into the shower and beamed like a shining light. There, on the inner wall of the shower stall just above the shower controls, a small, green light slowly pulsated. Indicating that the shower was active. "It can't be… This is just too good to be true."

She was about to jump into the shower right then and there when she realized that she needed some hygiene supplies, like soap and shampoo. She also took one more look into the mirror and cringed. Her long hair was down to nearly midway to her thighs and she hated it. She's had long hair since she was a teenager, but never like this. It was dirty and tangled in knots, and she had to wear it in a ponytail so it would get in her face, which didn't always work. But now was the time that she could rectify the matter. Running at a dash to the replicator she tapped in a couple of commands into the control panel and that same beautiful silver, sparkling light shimmered into existence and faded away again; leaving behind in the replicator slot, a bottle of shampoo, a bottle of body wash with a luffa, lotion, shaving razors with shaving gel, perfume, a hair brush and a pair of scissors.

She took the items into the bathroom like a giddy school girl, set them down on the sink counter and grabbed the scissors. She looked at herself one more time in the mirror, and the scissors to her with a vengeance. Like a scythe cutting through a wheat field, she cut large clumps of blonde hair onto the floor. As the pile of wavy hair grew at her feet, she dropped the scissors onto the counter when she was finished. She gazed at the image of the new person staring back at her from the mirror. Almost a meter of hair had been chopped off and she smiled with delight. She could actually feel the amount of weight she lost from it and really felt lighter. She had cut it above her shoulders, just under her ears and marveled at how much of a difference it made.

"I must've been 12, or 13 the last time I had hair this short." She giggled to herself, completely overjoyed with the currents events of the morning.

She slipped off her dirty, old night gown onto the pile of hair and gently stepped into the shower. The rain of hot running water cascading over her naked body was almost euphoric. She could feel her muscles relax and the shower's flowing caress. It was as if all of the universe's worries, tensions and anxieties were being washed away with the grime, sweat, and dirt. The hot steam  
from the thundering shower created a misty veil as if to conceal some great and mysterious secret that was Elizabeth Shelby. Letting her head be drenched from the falling water, flattening her hair to her skin. As she ran her hands through her hair she could feel the water pouring down and flowing over every centimeter, and hugging every curve of her body… It was wonderful.

She didn't know how long she was in the shower before she finally turned it off, but when she did she realized that something was missing, a clean towel. Smiling to herself, she stepped out of the shower into the cold, frigid air. She shivered from the rapid change in air temperature, and quickly got goose bumps all over her skin. Folding her arms together over her breasts, she rubbed her shoulders to warm them up as she hastily walked over to the replicator; all the while leaving a trail of wet footsteps, and water droplets behind her.

The tapped the control panel to the replicator and said, "Towel," and once again the replicator shimmered a silvery sparkling light and a towel appeared in the replicator slot. As she picked up the towel and wrapped it around herself, she noticed the time on the control panel.

"Oh no, that can't be the right time!" she exclaimed. "Computer, verify the time!"

"The time is now 0735." The computer replied

"Shit! I'm over a half-hour late!" she yelled. Needless to say, she dried herself off in a hurry. Replicating some fresh new undergarments and a new uniform to wear, she was out the door and making her way to the bridge in six minutes; her hair was still not completely dry and it dripped water unto her shoulders.

As the turbo-lift doors opened to the main bridge, she stepped through attempting to explain her tardiness. "I'm sorry sir; I know I'm late but…" She stopped in mid-sentence, only to stare upon the faces of the night shift personnel… Still at their posts.

Timothy turned from the helm, "Good morning ma'am. It looks like you're the first one from the day shift to make it this morning." He said half-jokingly, earning a few stifled chuckles from the other members of the night shift.

"Good morning Commander, how was your shower? I take it that it was pleasant." Data said as he rose from the command chair.

"How did you know I had a shower?" asked Shelby, not expecting the question, and genuinely forgetting that actually did have one earlier that morning.

"You cut your hair, and it's dripping water on your shoulders." Data replied, unconsciously earning a few laughs of his own.

"Oh… Yes well…" Shelby said slightly embarrassed.

"I take it Chief O'Brien's repairs to the replicators and hygiene systems last night were successful?" asked Data

"Yes, yes they were." Shelby stated while looking around the bridge. "I'm guessing everyone else on the bridge crew discovered the repairs this morning also?"

"Apparently so, ma'am." Data replied just as the turbo-lift doors open only to have Captain Riker burst through, his hair neatly cut short, his beard trimmed, and also wearing a new clean uniform.

"Good morning, sir." Shelby smiled, "Running a little late are we?" she teased

* * *

**Author's Note:** I hope you liked this chapter of the story. Let me know what you thought about it.


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